MVID  GRAHAM  PillLUPS 


JOSHUACRAIG 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE 
FASHIONABLE  ADVENTURES  OF 

JOSHUA  CRAIG 


THE  WORKS  OF  DAVID  GRAHAM  PHILLIPS 


The  Fashionable  Adventures  of  Joshua  Craig 

The  Worth  of  a  Woman 

Old  Wives  for  New 

Light-fingered  Gentry 

The  Second  Generation 
The  Deluge  The  Master  Rogue 

The  Social  Secretary         Golden  Fleece 
The  Plum  Tree  A  Woman  Ventures 

The  Cost  The  Great  God  Success 


Don't  go  yet!  '  cried  he.     '  We  are  just  beginning  to  get 
acquainted.'  " 

[Page  83] 


David  Graham  Phillips 


The 
FASHIONABLE    ADVENTURES    OF 

JOSHUA  CRAIG 


A  NOVEL 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK 

1909 


COPYRIGHT,  1909,  BY 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY 
THE  CURTIS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Published,  January,  1909 


?s 


3  f 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — MR.  CRAIG  ARRAYS  HIMSELF 1 

II. — IN  THE   BEST  SOCIETY 17 

III. — A  DESPERATE  YOUNG  WOMAN 38 

IV.— "HE   ISN'T  LIKE   Us" 57 

V. — ALMOST  HOOKED 71 

VI. — MR.  CRAIG  IN  SWEET  DANGER 98 

VII.     MRS.  SEVERENCE  is  ROUSED 112 

VIII. — MR.  CRAIG  CONFIDES 126 

IX. — SOMEWHAT   CYCLONIC 139 

X. — A  BELATED  PROPOSAL 148 

XI. — MADAM  BOWKER  HEARS  THE  NEWS 160 

XII.     PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 172 

XIII. — A  MEMORABLE  MEETING 193 

XIV. — MAGGIE  AND  JOSH 212 

XV. — THE  EMBASSY  GARDEN  PARTY 225 

XVI. — A  FIGHT  AND  A  FINISH 239 

XVII.— A  NIGHT  MAHCH  ....  .251 


926036 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

XVIII.— PEACE  AT  ANY  PRICE 259 

XIX. — MADAM    BOWKEH'S    BLESSING 276 

XX.     MR.  CRAIG  KISSES  THE  IDOL'S  FOOT 289 

XXL— A  SWOOP  AXD  A  SCRATCH 300 

XXII. — GETTING   ACQUAINTED 320 

XXIII.— WHAT  THE  Moox  SAW  AND  DID 339 

XXIV. — "OuR  HOUSE  is  AFIRE" 347 

XXV. — MRS.  JOSHUA  CRAIG  .  357 


VI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 
PAGE 

"'Don't  go  yet!'   cried  he.     'We  are  just   beginning  to   get 

acquainted' " Frontispiece 

"  'It  would  be  wiser     ...     to  marry  a  man  who  could  get 

money' "         24 

"  'Ah — Margaret  P    .    .    .     Her   sharp,   quarrel-seeking  voice 

tortured  the  girl's  nerves" 48 

"  'I  can't  resist  you — I  can't !'  he  cried"  . 144 

"'I've  got  to  kill  something,'  he  yelled.     *Why  not  you?'"  .     .  246 

"  'Your  temper  is  going  to  the  devil' " 316 

"  She  listened  with  a  sense  of  delight" 344 

"  'Come  on,'  he  said" 364 


THE 

FASHIONABLE  ADVENTURES 
OF  JOSHUA  CRAJG 

CHAPTER  I 

MR.    CRAIG  ARRAYS    HIMSELF 

It  was  one  of  the  top-floor-rear  flats  in  the  Wyan- 
dotte,  not  merely  biggest  of  Washington's  apartment 
hotels,  but  also  "  most  exclusive  " —  which  is  the  elegant 
way  of  saying  most  expensive.  The  Wyandotte  had 
gone  up  before  landlords  grasped  the  obvious  truth  that 
in  a  fire-proof  structure  locations  farthest  from  noise 
and  dust  should  and  could  command  highest  prices;  so 
Joshua  Craig's  flat  was  the  cheapest  in  the  house.  The 
ninety  dollars  a  month  loomed  large  in  his  eyes,  focused 
to  little-town  ideas  of  values ;  it  was,  in  fact,  small  for 
shelter  in  "  the  de  luxe  district  of  the  de  luxe  quarter," 
to  quote  Mrs.  Senator  Mulvey,  that  simple,  far- Western 
soul,  who,  finding  snobbishness  to  be  the  chief  distin 
guishing  mark  of  the  Eastern  upper  classes,  assumed 
it  was  a  virtue,  acquired  it  laboriously,  and  practiced  it 
as  openly  and  proudly  as  a  preacher  does  piety.  Craig's 

1 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

chief  splendor  was  a  sitting-room,  called  a  parlor  and 
bedecked  in  the  red  plush  and  Nottingham  that  repre 
sent  hotel  men's  probably  shrewd  guess  at  the  traveling 
public's  notion  of  interior  opulence.  Next  the  sitting- 
room,  and  with  the  same  dreary  outlook,  or,  rather, 
downlook,  upon  disheveled  and  squalid  back  yards,  was 
a  dingy  box  of  a  bedroom.  Like  the  parlor,  it  was 
outfitted  with  furniture  that  had  degenerated  upward, 
floor  by  floor,  from  the  spacious  and  luxurious  first-floor 
suites.  Between  the  two  rooms,  in  dark  mustiness,  lay 
a  bathroom  with  suspicious-looking,  wood-inclosed 
plumbing;  the  rusted  iron  of  the  tub  peered  through 
scuffs  and  seams  in  the  age-grayed  porcelain. 

Arkwright  glanced  from  the  parlor  where  he  was  sit 
ting  into  the  gloom  of  the  open  bathroom  and  back 
again.  His  cynical  brown-green  eyes  paused  upon  a 
scatter  of  clothing,  half-hiding  the  badly-rubbed  red 
plush  of  the  sofa  —  a  mussy  flannel  nightshirt  with 
mothholes  here  and  there;  kneed  trousers,  uncannily 
reminiscent  of  a  rough  and  strenuous  wearer ;  a  smoking- 
jacket  that,  after  a  youth  of  cheap  gayety,  was  now 
a  frayed  and  tattered  wreck,  like  an  old  tramp,  whose 
"  better  days  "  were  none  too  good.  On  the  radiator 
stood  a  pair  of  wrinkled  shoes  that  had  never  known 
trees ;  their  soles  were  curved  like  rockers.  An  old  pipe 


MR.  CRAIG  ARRAYS  HIMSELF 

clamored  at  his  nostrils,  though  it  was  on  the  table  near 
the  window,  the  full  length  of  the  room  from  him. 
Papers  and  books  were  strewn  about  everywhere.  It 
was  difficult  to  believe  these  unkempt  and  uncouth  sur 
roundings,  and  the  personality  that  had  created  them, 
were  actually  being  harbored  behind  the  walls  of  the 
Wyandotte. 

"  What  a  hole ! "  grumbled  Arkwright.  He  was  in 
evening  clothes,  so  correct  in  their  care  and  in  their 
carelessness  that  even  a  woman  would  have  noted  and 
admired.  "  What  a  mess  !  What  a  hole !  " 

"  How's  that?  "  came  from  the  bedroom  in  an  ag 
gressive  voice,  so  penetrating  that  it  seemed  loud,  though 
it  was  not,  and  much  roughened  by  open-air  speaking. 
"  What  are  you  growling  about  ?  " 

Arkwright  raised  his  tone :  "  Filthy  hole !  "  said  he. 
"  Filthy  mess !  " 

Now  appeared  in  the  bedroom  door  a  tall  young  man 
of  unusual  strength  and  nearly  perfect  proportions. 
The  fine  head  was  carried  commandingly ;  with  its  crop 
of  dark,  matted  hair  it  suggested  the  rude,  fierce  figure 
head  of  a  Viking  galley ;  the  huge,  aggressively-mascu 
line  features  proclaimed  ambition,  energy,  intelligence. 
To  see  Josh  Craig  was  to  have  instant  sense  of  the 
presence  of  a  personality.  The  contrast  between  him 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

standing  half-dressed  in  the  doorway  and  the  man  seated 
in  fashionable  and  cynically-critical  superciliousness  was 
more  than  a  matter  of  exteriors.  Arkwright,  with  fea 
tures  carved,  not  hewn  as  were  Craig's,  handsome  in 
civilization's  over-trained,  overbred  extreme,  had  an  in 
telligent,  superior  look  also.  But  it  was  the  look  of 
expertness  in  things  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of  learn 
ing;  it  was  aristocracy's  highly-prized  air  of  the  dog 
that  leads  in  the  bench  show  and  tails  in  the  field.  He 
was  like  a  firearm  polished  and  incrusted  with  gems  and 
hanging  in  a  connoisseur's  wall-case;  Josh  was  like  a 
battle-tested  rifle  in  the  sinewy  hands  of  an  Indian  in 
full  war-paint.  Arkwright  showed  that  he  had  physical 
strength,  too ;  but  it  was  of  the  kind  got  at  the  gym 
nasium  and  at  gentlemanly  sport  —  the  kind  that  wins 
only  where  the  rules  are  carefully  refined  and  amateur- 
ized.  Craig's  figure  had  the  solidity,  the  tough  fiber  of 
things  grown  in  the  open  air,  in  the  cold,  wet  hardship 
of  the  wilderness. 

Arkwright's  first  glance  of  admiration  for  this  figure 
of  the  forest  and  the  teepee  changed  to  a  mingling  of 
amusement  and  irritation.  The  barbarian  was  not  clad 
in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  which  would  have  set  him  off 
superbly,  but  was  trying  to  get  himself  arrayed  for  a 
fashionable  ball.  He  had  on  evening  trousers,  pumps, 

4 


MR.    CRAIG   ARRAYS   HIMSELF 

black  cotton  socks  with  just  enough  silk  woven  in  to 
give  them  the  shabby,  shamed  air  of  having  been 
caught  in  a  snobbish  pretense  at  being  silk.  He  was 
buttoning  a  shirt  torn  straight  down  the  left  side  of  the 
bosom  from  collar-band  to  end  of  tail;  and  the  bosom 
had  the  stiff,  glassy  glaze  that  advertises  the  cheap 
laundry. 

"  Didn't  you  write  me  I  must  get  an  apartment  in 
this  house?  "  demanded  he. 

"  Not  in  the  attic,"  rejoined  Arkwright. 

"  I  can't  afford  anything  better." 

"  You  can't  afford  anything  so  bad." 

"  Bad ! " 

Craig  looked  round  as  pleased  as  a  Hottentot  with  a 
string  of  colored  glass  beads.  "  Why,  I've  got  a  private 
sitting-room  and  a  private  bath !  I  never  was  so  well-off 
before  in  my  life.  I  tell  you,  Grant,  I'm  not  surprised 
any  more  that  you  Easterners  get  effete  and  worthless. 
I  begin  to  like  this  lolling  in  luxury,  and  I  keep  the 
bell-boys  on  the  jump.  Won't  you  have  something  to 
drink?" 

Arkwright  pointed  his  slim  cane  at  the  rent  in  the 
shirt.  "  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  ?  "  said  he. 

"  This  ?  Oh !  " —  Josh  thrust  his  thick  backwoods 
man's  hand  in  the  tear  — "  Very  simple.  A  safety-pin 

5 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

or  so  from  the  lining  of  the  vest  —  excuse  me,  waistcoat 
—  into  the  edge  of  the  bosom." 

"  Splendid !  "  ejaculated  Arkwright.     "  Superb !  " 

Craig,  with  no  scent  for  sarcasm  so  delicate,  pushed  on 
with  enthusiasm :  "  The  safety-pin's  the  mainstay  of 
bachelor  life,"  said  he  rhetorically.  "  It's  his  badge  of 
freedom.  Why,  I  can  even  repair  socks  with  it !  " 

"  Throw  that  shirt  away,"  said  Arkwright,  with  a 
contemptuous  switch  of  his  cane.  "  Put  on  another. 
You're  not  dressing  for  a  shindy  in  a  shack." 

"  But  it's  the  only  one  of  my  half-dozen  that  has  a 
bang-up  bosom." 

"Bang-up?     That  sheet  of  mottled  mica?" 

Craig  surveyed  the  shiny  surface  ruefully.  "  What's 
the  matter  with  this  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  Oh,  nothing,"  replied  Arkwright,  in  disgust. 
"  Only,  it  looks  more  like  something  to  roof  a  house 
with  than  like  linen  for  a  civilized  man." 

Craig  reared.  "  But,  damn  it,  Grant,  I'm  not  civil 
ized.  I'm  a  wild  man,  and  I'm  going  to  stay  wild.  I 
belong  to  the  common  people,  and  it's  my  game  —  and 
my  preference,  too  —  to  stick  to  them.  I'm  willing  to 
make  concessions;  I'm  not  a  fool.  I  know  there  was  a 
certain  amount  of  truth  in  those  letters  you  took  the 
trouble  to  write  me  from  Europe.  I  know  that  to  play 

6 


MR.    CRAIG   ARRAYS   HIMSELF 

the  game  here  in  Washington  I've  got  to  do  something 
in  society.  But " —  here  Josh's  eyes  flashed,  and  he 
bent  on  his  friend  a  look  that  was  impressive  — "  I'm 
still  going  to  be  myself.  I'll  make  'em  accept  me  as  I 
am.  Dealing  with  men  as  individuals,  I  make  them  do 
what  7  want,  make  'em  like  me  as  I  am." 

"  Every  game  has  its  own  rules,"  said  Arkwright. 
"  You'll  get  on  better  —  quicker  —  go  further  —  here 
if  you'll  learn  a  few  elementary  things.  I  don't  see 
that  wearing  a  whole  shirt  decently  done  up  is  going  to 
compromise  any  principles.  Surely  you  can  do  that  and 
still  be  as  common  as  you  like.  The  people  look  up  to 
the  fellow  that's  just  a  little  better  dressed  than  they." 

Josh  eyed  Arkwright  in  the  way  that  always  made 
him  wonder  whether  he  was  in  full  possession  of  the 
secret  of  this  strenuous  young  Westerner.  "  But,"  said 
he,  "  they  love  and  trust  the  man  who  will  have  nothing  / 
which  all  may  not  have.  The  shirt  will  do  for  this 
evening."  And  he  turned  back  into  the  bedroom. 

Arkwright  reflected  somewhat  uncomfortably.  He 
felt  that  he  himself  was  right;  yet  he  could  not  deny 


true.  He  soon  forgot  the  argument  in  the  study  of  his 
surroundings.  "  You're  living  like  a  wild  beast  here, 
Josh,"  he  presently  called  out.  "  You  must  get  a  valet." 

7 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

A  loud  laugh  was  the  reply. 

"  Or  a  wife,"  continued  Arkwright.  Then,  in  the 
voice  of  one  announcing  an  inspiration,  "  Yes  —  that's 
it!  A  wife!" 

Craig  reappeared.  He  had  on  his  waistcoat  and  coat 
now,  and  his  hair  was  brushed.  Arkwright  could  not 
but  admit  that  the  personality  took  the  edge  off  the 
clothes ;  even  the  "  mottled  mica  " —  the  rent  was  com 
pletely  hid  —  seemed  to  have  lost  the  worst  of  its  glaze 
and  stiffness.  "  You'll  do,  Josh,"  said  he.  "  I  spoke 
too  quickly.  If  I  hadn't  accidentally  been  thrust  into 
the  innermost  secrets  of  your  toilet  I'd  never  have  sus 
pected."  He  looked  the  Westerner  over  with  gentle, 
friendly  patronage.  "  Yes,  you'll  do.  You  look  fairly 
well  at  a  glance —  and  a  man's  clothes  rarely  get  more 
than  that." 

Craig  released  his  laugh  upon  his  fastidious  friend's 
judicial  seriousness.  "The  trouble  with  you,  Grant,  is 
you've  never  lived  a  human  life.  You've  always  been 
sheltered  and  pampered,  lifted  in  and  out  of  bed  by 
valets,  had  a  suit  of  clothes  for  every  hour  in  the  day. 
I  don't  see  how  it  is  I  happen  to  like  you."  And  in 
Craig's  face  and  voice  there  was  frankly  the  condescen 
sion  of  superior  to  undoubted  inferior. 

Arkwright  seemed  to  be  wavering  between  resentment 

8 


MR.    CRAIG   ARRAYS   HIMSELF 

and  amused  disdain.  Then  he  remembered  the  circum 
stances  of  their  first  acquaintance  —  those  frightful  days 
in  the  Arizona  desert,  without  food,  with  almost  no 
water,  and  how  this  man  had  been  absolute  ruler  of  the 
party  of  lost  and  dying  men;  how  he  had  forced  them 
to  march  on  and  on,  with  entreaties,  with  curses,  with 
blows  finally ;  how  he  had  brought  them  to  safety  —  all 
as  a  matter  of  course,  without  any  vanity  or  boasting 
—  had  been  leader  by  divine  right  of  strength  of  body 
and  soul.  Grant  turned  his  eyes  from  Craig,  for  there 
were  tears  in  them.  "  I  don't  see  why  you  like  me, 
either,  Josh,"  said  he.  "  But  you  do  —  and  —  damn  it 
all,  I'd  die  for  you." 

"  I  guess  you'll  come  pretty  near  dying  of  shame  be 
fore  this  evening's  over,"  laughed  Craig.  "  This  is  the 
first  time  in  my  life  I  ever  was  in  a  fashionable  com 
pany." 

"  There's  nothing  to  be  frightened  about,"  Grant  as 
sured  him. 

"  Frightened !  "  Josh  laughed  boisterously  —  Ark- 
wright  could  have  wished  he  would  temper  that  laugh. 
"I  —  frightened  by  a  bunch  of  popinjays?  You  see, 
it's  not  really  in  the  least  important  whether  they  like 
me  or  not  —  at  least,  not  to  me.  I'll  get  there,  any 
how.  And  when  I  do,  I'll  deal  with  them  according 

9 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

to  their  deserts.     So  they'd  better  hustle  to  get  solid 
with  me." 

In  the  two  years  since  he  had  seen  Craig,  Arkwright 
had  almost  forgotten  his  habit  of  bragging  and  blowing 
about  himself  —  what  he  had  done,  what  he  was  going 
to  do.  The  newspapers,  the  clippings  Josh  sent  him, 
had  kept  him  informed  of  the  young  Minnesotan's 
steady,  rapid  rise  in  politics ;  and  whenever  he  recalled 
the  absurd  boasting  that  had  made  him  feel  Craig  would 
never  come  to  anything,  he  assumed  it  was  a  weakness  of 
youth  and  inexperience  which  had,  no  doubt,  been  con 
quered.  But,  no ;  here  was  the  same  old,  conceited  Josh, 
as  crudely  and  vulgarly  self-confident  as  when  he  was 
twenty -five  and  just  starting  at  the  law  in  a  country 
town.  Yet  Arkwright  could  not  but  admit  there  had 
been  more  than  a  grain  of  truth  in  Craig's  former  self- 
laudations,  that  there  was  in  victories  won  a  certain  ex 
cuse  for  his  confidence  about  the  future.  This  young 
man,  not  much  beyond  thirty,  with  a  personality  so  posi 
tive  and  so  rough  that  he  made  enemies  right  and  left, 
rousing  the  envy  of  men  to  fear  that  here  was  an  am 
bition  which  must  be  downed  or  it  would  become  a 
tyranny  over  them  —  this  young  man,  by  skill  at 
politics  and  by  sympathetic  power  with  people  in  the 
mass,  had  already  compelled  a  President  who  didn't  like 

10 


MR.    CRAIG   ARRAYS   HIMSELF 

him  to  appoint  him  to  the  chief  post  under  an  Attorney- 
General  who  detested  him. 

"  How  are  you  getting  on  with  the  Attorney-Gen 
eral  ?  "  asked  Arkwright,  as  they  set  out  in  his  electric 
brougham. 

"  He's  getting  on  with  me  much  better,"  replied 
Craig,  "  now  that  he  has  learned  not  to  trifle  with  me." 

"  Stillwater  is  said  to  be  a  pretty  big  man,"  said 
Arkwright  warningly. 

"  The  bigger  the  man,  the  easier  to  frighten,"  re 
plied  Josh  carelessly,  "  because  the  more  he's  got  to 
lose.  But  it's  a  waste  of  time  to  talk  politics  to  you. 
Grant,  old  man,  I'm  sick  and  worn  out,  and  how  lone 
some!  I'm  successful.  But  what  of  that,  since  I'm 
miserable?  If  it  wasn't  for  my  sense  of  duty,  by  Heav 
en,  I  sometimes  think  I'd  drop  it  all  and  go  back  to 
Wayne." 

"  Don't  do  that,  Josh ! "  exclaimed  Arkwright. 
"  Don't  let  the  country  go  rolling  off  to  ruin !  " 

"  Like  all  small  creatures,"  said  Craig,  "  you  take 
serious  matters  lightly,  and  light  matters  seriously.  You 
were  right  a  moment  ago  when  you  said  I  needed  a 
wife." 

"  That's  all  settled,"  said  Grant.  "  I'm  going  to  get 
you  one." 

11 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  A  woman  doesn't  need  a  man  —  if  she  isn't  too 
lazy  to  earn  a  living,"  pursued  Craig.  "  But  what's  a 
man  without  a  woman  about?  " 

"  You  want  a  wife,  and  you  want  her  quick,"  said 
Arkwright. 

"  You  saw  what  a  condition  my  clothes  are  in.  Then, 
I  need  somebody  to  talk  with." 

"  To  talk  to,"  corrected  Grant. 

"  I  can't  have  you  round  all  the  time  to  talk  to." 

"  Heaven  forbid !  "  cried  Arkwright.  "  You  never 
talk  about  anything  but  yourself." 

"  Some  day,  my  boy,"  said  Josh,  with  his  grave  good 
humor  of  the  great  man  tolerating  the  antics  of  a 
mountebank,  "  you'll  appreciate  it  wasn't  the  subject 
that  was  dull,  but  the  ears.  For  the  day'll  come  when 
everybody'll  be  thinking  and  talking  about  me  most  of 
the  time." 

Arkwright  grinned.  "  It's  lucky  you  don't  let  go  be 
fore  everybody  like  that." 

"Yes,  but  I  do,"  rejoined  Craig.  "And  why  not? 
They  can't  stop  my  going  ahead.  Besides,  it's  not  a  bad 
idea "  —  he  nodded,  with  that  shrewdness  which  was 
the  great,  deep-lying  vein  in  his  nature  — "  not  at  all 
a  bad  idea,  to  have  people  think  you  a  frank,  loose- 
V  mouthed,  damn  fool  —  if  you  ain't.  Ambition's  a  war. 


MR.    CRAIG  ARRAYS   HIMSELF 

And  it's  a  tremendous  advantage  to  lead  your  enemies 
to  underestimate  you.  That's  one  reason  why  I  always 
win.  ...  So  you're  going  to  try  to  get  me  a 
wife?  " 

"  I'm  going  to  get  you  one  —  one  of  the  sort  you 
need.  You  need  a  woman  who'll  tame  you  down  and 
lick  you  into  shape." 

Craig  smiled  scornfully. v 

"  One  who'll  know  how  to  smooth  the  enemies  you 
make  with  your  rough-and-tumble  manners ;  one  who'll 
win  friends  for  you  socially  — " 

Josh  made  a  vehement  gesture  of  dissent.  "  Not  on 
your  life ! "  cried  he.  "  Of  course,  my  wife  must  be  a 
lady,  and  interested  in  my  career.  But  none  of  your 
meddling  politicians  in  petticoats  for  me !  I'll  do  my 
own  political  maneuvering.  I  want  a  woman,  not  a  bad 
imitation  of  a  man." 

"  Well,  let  that  go,"  said  Arkwright.  "  Also,  she 
ought  to  be  able  to  supply  you  with  funds  for  your 
political  machinery." 

Josh  sat  up  as  if  this  were  what  he  had  been  listen 
ing  for. 

"That's  right!"  cried  he.  "Politics  is  hell  for  a 
poor  man,  nowadays.  The  people  are  such  thought 
less,  short-sighted  fools  — "  He  checked  himself, 

13 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

and  in  a  different  tone  went  on :     "  However,  I  don't 
mean  exactly  that — " 

"  You  needn't  hedge,  Josh,  with  me." 

"  I  don't  want  you  to  be  thinking  I'm  looking  for  a 
rich  woman." 

"  Not  at  all  —  not  at  all,"  laughed  his  friend. 

"  If  she  had  too  much  money  it'd  be  worse  for  my 
career  than  if  she  had  none  at  all." 

"  I  understand,"  said  Arkwright. 

"  Enough  money  to  make  me  independent  —  if  I 
should  get  in  a  tight  place,"  continued  Josh.  "  Yes, 
I  must  marry.  The  people  are  suspicious  of  a  bachelor. 
The  married  men  resent  his  freedom  —  even  the  happily 
married  ones.  And  all  the  women,  married  and  single, 
resent  his  not  surrendering." 

"  I  never  suspected  you  of  cynicism." 

"  Yes,"  continued  Craig,  in  an  instantly  and  radically 
changed  tone,  "  the  people  like  a  married  man,  a  man 
with  children.  It  looks  respectable,  settled.  It  makes 
'em  feel  he's  got  a  stake  in  the  country  —  a  home  and 
property  to  defend.  Yes,  I  want  a  wife." 

"  I  don't  see  why  you've  neglected  it  so  long." 

"Too  busy." 

"  And  too  —  ambitious,"  suggested  Arkwright. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  demanded  Josh,  bristling. 

14 


MR.    CRAIG   ARRAYS   HIMSELF 

"  You  thought  you'd  wait  to  marry  until  you  were 
nearer  your  final  place  in  the  world.  Being  cut  out  for 
a  king,  you  know  —  why,  you  thought  you'd  like  a 
queen  —  one  of  those  fine,  delicate  ladies  you'd  read 
about." 

Craig's  laugh  might  have  been  confession,  it  might 
have  been  mere  amusement.  "  I  want  a  wife  that  suits 
me,"  said  he.  "  And  I'll  get  her." 

It  was  Arkwright's  turn  to  be  amused.  "  There's  one 
game  you  don't  in  the  least  understand,"  said  he. 

"  What  game  is  that?  " 

"  The  woman  game." 

Craig  shrugged  contemptuously.  "  Marbles !  Jacks !  " 
Then  he  added:  "  Now  that  I'm  about  ready  to  marry, 
I'll  look  the  offerings  over."  He  clapped  his  friend  on 
the  shoulder.  "  And  you  can  bet  your  last  cent  I'll  take 
what  I  want." 

"  Don't  be  too  sure,"  jeered  Arkwright. 

The  brougham  was  passing  a  street  lamp  that  for  an 
instant  illuminated  Craig's  face.  Again  Arkwright  saw 
the  expression  that  made  him  feel  extremely  uncertain 
of  the  accuracy  of  his  estimates  of  the  "  wild  man's  " 
character. 

"  Yes,  I'll  get  her,"  said  Josh,  "  and  for  a  reason 
that  never  occurs  to  you  shallow  people.  I  get  what  I 

15 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

want  because  what  I  want  wants  me  —  for  the  same 
reason  that  the  magnet  gets  the  steel." 

Arkwright  looked  admiringly  at  his  friend's  strong, 
aggressive  face. 

"  You're  a  queer  one,  Josh,"  said  he.  "  Nothing 
ordinary  about  you." 

"  I  should  hope  not !  "  exclaimed  Craig.  "  Now  for 
the  plunge." 


16 


CHAPTER  II 

IN  THE   BEST  SOCIETY 

Grant's  electric  had  swung  in  at  the  end  of  the  long 
line  of  carriages  of  all  kinds,  from  coach  of  ambassador 
and  costly  limousine  of  multi-millionaire  to  humble 
herdic  wherein  poor,  official  grandee's  wife  and  daughter 
were  feeling  almost  as  common  as  if  they  had  come  in 
a  street  car  or  afoot.  Josh  Craig,  leaning  from  the  open 
window,  could  see  the  grand  entrance  under  the  wide 
and  lofty  porte-cochere  —  the  women,  swathed  in  silk 
and  fur,  descending  from  the  carriages  and  entering  the 
wide-flung  doors  of  the  vestibule ;  liveries,  flowers,  lights, 
sounds  of  stringed  instruments,  intoxicating  glimpses  of 
magnificence  at  windows,  high  and  low.  And  now  the 
electric  was  at  the  door.  He  and  Arkwright  sprang  out, 
hastened  up  the  broad  steps.  His  expression  amused 
Arkwright;  it  was  intensely  self-conscious,  resolutely 
indifferent  —  the  kind  of  look  that  betrays  tempestuous 
inward  perturbations  and  misgivings.  "  Josh  is  a  good 
deal  of  a  snob,  for  all  his  brave  talk,"  thought  he. 
"  But,"  he  went  on  to  reflect,  "  that's  only  human. 

17 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

^  We're  all  impressed  by  externals,  no  matter  what  we  may 
pretend  to  ourselves  and  to  others.  I've  been  used  to 
this  sort  of  thing  all  my  life  and  I  know  how  little  there 
is  in  it,  yet  I'm  in  much  the  same  state  of  bedazzlement 
as  Josh." 

Josh  had  a  way  of  answering  people's  thoughts  direct 
which  Arkwright  sometimes  suspected  was  not  altogether 
accidental.  He  now  said :  "  But  there's  a  difference  be 
tween  your  point  of  view  and  mine.  You  take  this  seri 
ously  through  and  through.  I  laugh  at  it  in  the  bottom 
of  my  heart,  and  size  it  up  at  its  true  value.  I'm  like  a 
child  that  don't  really  believe  in  goblins,  yet  likes  the 
shivery  effects  of  goblin  stories." 

"  I  don't  believe  in  goblins,  either,"  said  Arkwright. 

"  You  don't  believe  in  anything  else,"  said  Josh. 

Arkwright  steered  him  through  the  throng,  and  up 
to  the  hostess  —  Mrs.  Burke,  stout,  honest,  with  sym 
pathy  in  her  eyes  and  humor  in  the  lines  round  her 
sweet  mouth.  "  Well,  Josh,"  she  said  in  a  slow,  pleasant 
monotone,  "  you  have  done  a  lot  of  growing  since  I 
saw  you.  I  always  knew  you'd  come  to  some  bad  end. 
And  here  you  are  —  in  politics  and  in  society.  Gus !  " 

A  tall,  haughty-looking  young  woman,  standing  next 
her,  turned  and  fixed  upon  Craig  a  pair  of  deep,  deep 
eyes  that  somehow  flustered  him.  Mrs.  Burke  presented 

18 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

him,  and  he  discovered  that  it  was  her  daughter-in-law. 
While  she  was  talking  with  Arkwright,  he  examined  her 
toilette.  He  thought  it  startling  —  audacious  in  its 
display  of  shoulders  and  back  —  until  he  got  over  his 
dazed,  dazzled  feeling,  and  noted  the  other  women  about. 
Wild  horses  could  not  have  dragged  it  from  him,  but 
he  felt  that  this  physical  display  was  extremely  im 
modest;  and  at  the  same  time  that  he  eagerly  looked 
his  face  burned.  "  If  I  do  pick  one  of  these,"  said  he 
to  himself,  "  I'm  jiggered  if  I  let  her  appear  in  public 
dressed  this  way.  Why,  out  home  women  have  been 
white-capped  for  less." 

Arkwright  had  drifted  away  from  him;  he  let  the 
crowd  gently  push  him  toward  the  wall,  into  the  shelter 
of  a  clump  of  palms  and  ferns.  There,  with  his  hands 
in  his  pockets,  and  upon  his  face  what  he  thought  an 
excellent  imitation  of  Arkwright's  easy,  bored  expres 
sion  of  thinly-veiled  cynicism,  he  surveyed  the  scene  and 
tried  to  judge  it  from  the  standpoint  of  the  "  common 
people."  His  verdict  was  that  it  was  vain,  frivolous,  un 
worthy,  beneath  the  serious  consideration  of  a  man  of  af 
fairs  such  as  he.  But  he  felt  that  he  was  not  quite  frank, 
in  fact  was  dishonest,  with  himself  in  this  lofty  disdain. 
It  represented  what  he  ought  to  feel,  not  what  he  actually 
was  feeling.  "  At  least,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  I'll  never 

19 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

confess  to  any  one  that  I'm  weak  enough  to  be  im 
pressed  by  this  sort  of  thing.  Anyhow,  to  confess  a 
weakness  is  to  encourage  it.  ...  No  wonder  so 
ciety  is  able  to  suck  in  and  destroy  so  many  fellows  of 
my  sort!  If  I  am  tempted  what  must  it  mean  to  the 
ordinary  man  ?  "  He  noted  with  angry  shame  that  he 
felt  a  swelling  of  pride  because  he,  of  so  lowly  an  origin, 
born  no  better  than  the  machine-like  lackeys,  had  been 
able  to  push  himself  in  upon  —  yes,  up  among  —  these 
people  on  terms  of  equality.  And  it  was,  for  the  mo 
ment,  in  vain  that  he  reminded  himself  that  most  of 
them  were  of  full  as  lowly  origin  as  he ;  that  few  indeed 
could  claim  to  be  more  than  one  generation  removed 
from  jack-boots  and  jeans;  that  the  most  elegant  had 
more  relations  among  the  "  vulgar  herd  "  than  they  had 
among  the  "  high  folks." 

"  What  are  you  looking  so  glum  and  sour  about  ?  " 
asked  Arkwright. 

He  startled  guiltily.  So,  his  mean  and  vulgar 
thoughts  had  been  reflected  in  his  face.  "  I  was  thinking 
of  the  case  I  have  to  try  before  the  Supreme  Court  next 
week,"  said  he. 

"  Well,  I'll  introduce  you  to  one  of  the  Justices  — 
old  Towler.  He  comes  of  the  '  common  people,'  like 
you.  But  he  dearly  loves  fashionable  society  —  makes 

20 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

himself  ridiculous  going  to  balls  and  trying  to  flirt. 
It'll  do  you  no  end  of  good  to  meet  these  people  socially. 
You'll  be  surprised  to  see  how  respectful  and  eager  they'll 
all  be  if  you  become  a  recognized  social  favorite.  For 
real  snobbishness  give  me  your  friends,  the  common 
people,  when  they  get  up  where  they  can  afford  to  put 
on  airs.  Why,  even  the  President  has  a  sneaking 
hankering  after  fashionable  people.  I  tell  you,  in  Wash 
ington  everything  goes  by  social  favor,  just  as  it  does 
in  London  —  and  would  in  Paris  if  fashionable  society 
would  deign  to  notice  the  Republic." 

"  Introduce  me  to  old  Towler,"  said  Craig,  curt  and 
bitter.  He  was  beginning  to  feel  that  Arkwright  was 
at  least  in  part  right;  and  it  angered  him  for  the  sake 
of  the  people  from  whom  he  had  sprung,  and  to  whom 
he  had  pledged  his  public  career.  "  Then,"  he  went  on, 
"  I'm  going  home.  And  you'll  see  me  among  these  but 
terflies  and  hoptoads  no  more." 

"  Can't  trust  yourself,  eh?  "  suggested  Arkwright. 

Craig  flashed  exaggerated  scorn  that  was  confession. 

"  I'll  do  better  than  introduce  you  to  Towler,"  pro 
ceeded  Arkwright.  "  I'll  present  you  to  his  daughter  — 
a  dyed  and  padded  old  horror,  but  very  influential  with 
her  father  and  all  the  older  crowd.  Sit  up  to  her,  Josh. 
You  can  lay  the  flattery  on  as  thick  as  her  paint  and 

21 


as  high  as  her  topknot  of  false  hair.  If  she  takes  to 
you  your  fortune's  made." 

"  I  tell  you,  my  fortune  is  not  dependent  on  — " 
began  Craig  vehemently. 

"  Cut  it  out,  old  man,"  interrupted  Arkwright.  "  No 
stump  speeches  here.  They  don't  go.  They  bore  people 
and  create  an  impression  that  you're  both  ridiculous  and 
hypocritical." 

Arkwright  left  Josh  with  Towler's  daughter,  Mrs. 
Raymond,  who  was  by  no  means  the  horror  Arkwright's 
language  of  fashionable  exaggeration  had  pictured,  and 
who  endured  Craig's  sophomoric  eulogies  of  "  your 
great  and  revered  father,"  because  the  eulogist  was 
young  and  handsome,  and  obviously  anxious  to  please 
her.  As  Arkwright  passed  along  the  edge  of  the  dancers 
a  fan  reached  out  and  touched  him  on  the  arm.  He 
halted,  faced  the  double  line  of  women,  mostly  elderly, 
seated  on  the  palm-roofed  dais  extending  the  length  of 
that  end  of  the  ballroom. 

"  Hel  —  lo!  "  called  he.  "Just  the  person  I  was 
looking  for.  How  is  Margaret  this  evening?  " 

"  As  you  see,"  replied  the  girl,  unfurling  the  long 
fan  of  eagle  plumes  with  which  she  had  tapped  him. 
"  Sit  down.  .  .  .  Jackie  " —  this  to  a  rosy,  eager- 
faced  youth  beside  her  — "  run  away  and  amuse  your- 

22 


IN   THE   BEST  SOCIETY 

self.     I  want  to  talk  seriously  to  this  elderly  person." 

**  I'm  only  seven  years  older  than  you,"  said  Ark- 
wright,  as  he  seated  himself  where  Jackie  had  been  vainly 
endeavoring  to  induce  Miss  Severence  to  take  him  seri 
ously. 

"  And  I  am  twenty-eight,  and  have  to  admit  to  twenty- 
four,"  said  Margaret. 

"  Don't  frown  that  way.  It  makes  wrinkles ;  and 
what's  more  unsightly  than  a  wrinkled  brow  in  a 
woman  ?  " 

"  I  don't  in  the  least  care,"  replied  the  girl.  "  I've 
made  up  my  mind  to  stop  fooling  and  marry." 

"Jackie?" 

"  If  I  can't  do  better."  She  laughed  a  low,  sweet 
laugh,  like  her  voice ;  and  her  voice  suggested  a  leisurely 
brook  flitting  among  mossy  stones.  "  You  see,  I've  lost 
that  first  bloom  of  youth  the  wife-pickers  prize  so 
highly.  I'm  not  unsophisticated  enough  to  please  them. 
And  I  haven't  money  enough  to  make  them  overlook 
such  defects  as  maturity  and  intelligence  —  in  fact,  I've 
no  money  at  all." 

"  You  were  never  so  good-looking  in  your  life,"  said 
Grant.  "  I  recall  you  were  rather  homely  as  a  child  and 
merely  nice  and  fresh-looking  when  you  came  out. 
\ou're  one  of  those  that  improve  with  time." 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Thanks,"  said  the  girl  dryly.  She  was  in  no  mood 
for  the  barren  blossom  of  non-marrying  men's  compli 
ments. 

"  The  trouble  with  you  is  the  same  as  with  me,"  pur 
sued  he.  "  We've  both  spent  our  time  with  the  young 
married  set,  where  marriage  is  regarded  as  a  rather 
stupid  joke.  You  ought  to  have  stuck  to  the  market 
place  until  your  business  was  settled." 

She  nodded  a  thoughtful  assent.  "  Yes,  that  was  my 
sad  mistake,"  said  she.  "  However,  I'm  going  to  do  my 
best  to  repair  it." 

He  reflected.  "  You  must  marry  money,"  he  de 
clared,  as  if  it  were  a  verdict. 

"  Either  some  one  who's  got  it  or  some  one  who  can 
get  it." 

"  Some  one  who's  got  it,  I'd  advise." 

"  Bad  advice,"  commented  the  girl,  her  hazel  eyes 
gazing  dreamily,  languorously  into  the  distance.  She 
looked  a  woman  on  romance  bent,  a  woman  without  a 
mercenary  thought  in  her  head.  "  Very  bad  advice," 
she  went  on.  "  Men  who've  got  money  may  lose  it  and 
be  unable  to  make  any  more.  What  a  helpless  thing 
you'd  be  but  for  what  you  have  inherited  and  will  in 
herit.  Yet  you're  above  the  average  of  our  sort." 

"  Humph ! "  said  Arkwright,  with  an  irritated  laugh. 


It  would  be  wiser     ...     to  marry  a  man  who  could 
get  money.'  " 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

Humor  at  his  expense  was  a  severe  strain  upon  him.  It 
always  is  to  those  whose  sense  of  humor  is  keen ;  for 
they  best  appreciate  the  sting  that  lies  in  the  pleasantest 
jest. 

"  It  would  be  wiser  —  if  one  dared  be  wise,"  pursued 
the  girl,  "  to  marry  a  man  who  could  get  money.  That 
kind  of  man  is  safest.  Only  death  or  insanity  can 
make  him  a  disappointment." 

Arkwright  eyed  her  curiously.  "  What  a  good  head 
you've  got  on  you,  Rita,"  said  he.  "  Like  your  grand 
mother." 

The  girl  shivered  slightly.  "  Don't  speak  of  her ! " 
she  exclaimed  with  an  uneasy  glance  around.  And  Grant 
knew  he  was  correct  in  his  suspicion  as  to  who  was 
goading  and  lashing  her  to  hasten  into  matrimony. 

"  Well  —  have  you  selected  your  — " 

As  Arkwright  hesitated  she  supplied,  "  Victim." 
They  laughed,  she  less  enthusiastically  than  he. 
"  Though,"  she  added,  "  I  assure  you,  I'll  make  him 
happy.  It  takes  intelligence  to  make  a  man  happy,  even 
if  he  wants  the  most  unintelligent  kind  of  happiness. 
And  you've  just  admitted  I'm  not  stupid." 

Arkwright  was  studying  her.  He  had  a  sly  instinct 
that  there  was  a  reason  deeper  than  their  old  and  intimate 
friendship  for  her  reposing  this  extreme  of  confidence 

25 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

in  him.  No  doubt  she  was  not  without  a  vague  hope  that 
possibly  this  talk  might  set  him  to  thinking  of  her  as  a 
wife  for  himself.  Well,  why  not?  He  ought  to  marry, 
and  he  could  afford  it.  Where  would  he  find  a  more 
ladylike  person  —  or  where  one  who  was  at  the  same 
time  so  attractive?  He  studied,  with  a  certain  personal 
interest,  hei  delicate  face,  her  figure,  slim  and  gracefully 
curved,  as  her  evening  dress  fully  revealed  it.  Yes,  a 
charming,  most  ladylike  figure.  And  the  skin  of  her 
face,  of  neck  and  shoulders,  was  beautifully  white,  and 
of  the  texture  suggesting  that  it  will  rub  if  too  im 
petuously  caressed.  Yes,  a  man  would  hesitate  to  kiss 
her  unless  he  were  well  shaved.  At  the  very  thought  of 
kissing  her  Grant  felt  a  thrill  and  a  glow  she  had  never 
before  roused  in  him.  She  had  an  abundance  of  blue- 
black  hair,  and  it  and  her  slender  black  brows  and  long 
lashes  gave  her  hazel  eyes  a  peculiar  charm  of  mingled 
passion  and  languor.  She  had  a  thin  nose,  well  shaped, 
its  nostrils  very  sensitive;  slightly,  charmingly-puckered 
lips;  a  small,  strong  chin.  Certainly  she  had  improved 
greatly  in  the  two  years  since  he  had  seen  her  in  evening 
dress.  "  Though,  perhaps,"  reflected  he,  "  I  only  think 
so  because  I  used  to  see  her  too  much,  really  to  appreciate 
her." 

"Well,    why    didn't    you?"    she    was    saying,    idly 

26 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

waving  her  fan  and  gazing  vaguely  around  the  room. 

"Why  didn't  I  — what?" 

"  You  were  trying  to  decide  why  you  never  fell  in 
love  with  me." 

"  So  I  was,"  admitted  Arkwright. 

"  Now  if  I  had  had  lots  of  cash,"  mocked  she. 

He  reddened,  winced.  She  had  hit  the  exact  reason. 
Having  a  great  deal  of  money,  he  wanted  more  — 
enough  to  make  the  grandest  kind  of  splurge  in  a  puddle 
where  splurge  was  everything.  "  Rather,  because  you 
are  too  intelligent,"  drawled  he.  "  I  want  somebody 
who'd  fit  into  my  melting  moods,  not  a  woman  who'd 
make  me  ashamed  by  seeming  to  sit  in  judgment  on  my 
folly." 

"  A  man  mustn't  have  too  much  respect  for  a  woman 
if  he's  to  fall  utterly  in  love  with  her  —  must  he  ?  " 

Arkwright  smiled  constrainedly.  He  liked  cynical 
candor  in  men,  but  only  pretended  to  like  it  in  women 
because  bald  frankness  in  women  was  now  the  fashion. 
"  See,"  said  he,  "  how  ridiculous  I'd  feel  trying  to  say 
sentimental  things  to  you.  Besides,  it's  not  easy  to  fall 
in  love  with  a  girl  one  has  known  since  she  was  born, 
and  with  whom  he's  always  been  on  terms  of  brotherly, 
quite  unsentimental  intimacy." 

Rita  gave  him  a  look  that  put  this  suggestion  out  of 

27 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

countenance  by  setting  him  to  thrilling  again.  He  felt 
that  her  look  was  artful,  was  deliberate,  but  he  could  not 
help  responding  to  it.  He  began  to  be  a  little  afraid 
of  her,  a  little  nervous  about  her;  but  he  managed  to 
say  indifferently,  "  And  why  haven't  you  fallen  in  love 
with  me?  " 

She  smiled.  "  It  isn't  proper  for  a  well-brought-up 
girl  to  love  until  she  is  loved,  is  it  ?  "  Her  expression 
gave  Grant  a  faint  suggestion  of  a  chill  of  apprehen 
sion  lest  she  should  be  about  to  take  advantage  of  their 
friendship  by  making  a  dead  set  for  him.  But  she 
speedily  tranquilized  him  by  saying :  "  No,  my  reason 
was  that  I  didn't  want  to  spoil  my  one  friendship.  Even 
a  business  person  craves  the  luxury  of  a  friend  —  and 
marrying  has  been  my  business,"  this  with  a  slight  curl 
of  her  pretty,  somewhat  cruel  mouth.  "  To  be  quite 
frank,  I  gave  you  up  as  a  possibility  years  ago.  I  saw 
I  wasn't  your  style.  Your  tastes  in  women  are  rather  — 
coarse." 

Arkwright  flushed.  "  I  do  like  'em  a  bit  noisy  and 
silly,"  he  admitted.  "  That  sort  is  so  —  so  gemuthlich, 
as  the  Germans  say." 

"  Who's  the  man  you  delivered  over  to  old  Patsy  Ray 
mond?  I  see  he's  still  fast  to  her." 

"  Handsome,  isn't  he?  " 

28 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

"  Of  a  sort." 

"  It's  Craig  —  the  Honorable  Joshua  Craig  —  Assist 
ant  to  the  Attorney-General.  He's  from  Minnesota. 
He's  the  real  thing.  But  you'd  not  like  him." 

"  He  looks  quite  —  tame,  compared  to  what  he  was 
two  years  or  so  ago,"  said  Rita,  her  voice  as  indolent 
as  her  slowly-moving  eagle  feathers. 

"Oh,  you've  met  him?" 

"  No  —  only  saw  him.  When  I  went  West  with  the 
Burkes,  Gus  and  the  husband  took  me  to  a  political 
meeting  —  one  of  those  silly,  stuffy  gatherings  where 
some  blatant  politician  bellows  out  a  lot  of  lies,  and  a 
crowd  of  badly-dressed  people  listen  and  swallow  and 
yelp.  Your  friend  was  one  of  the  speakers.  What  he 
said  sounded  — "  Rita  paused  for  a  word. 

"  Sounded  true,"  suggested  Grant. 

"  Not  at  all.  Nobody  really  cares  anything  about  the 
people,  not  even  themselves.  No,  it  sounded  as  if  he 
had  at  least  half-convinced  himself,  while  the  others 
showed  they  were  lying  outright.  We  rather  liked  him 
—  at  the  safe  distance  of  half  the  hall.  He's  the  kind 
of  man  that  suggests  —  menageries  —  lions  —  danger 
if  the  bars  break." 

"  How  women  do  like  that  in  a  man ! " 

"  Do  you  know  him?  " 

29 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Through  and  through.  He's  a  fraud,  of  course, 
like  all  politicians.  But  beneath  the  fraud  there's  a 
man  —  I  think  —  a  great,  big  man,  strong  and  sure  of 
himself  —  which  is  what  can't  be  said  of  many  of  us 
who  wear  trousers  and  pose  as  lords  of  creation." 

The  girl  seemed  to  have  ceased  to  listen,  was  ap 
parently  watching  the  dancers,  Arkwright  continued  to 
gaze  at  his  friend,  to  admire  the  impressive,  if  obviously 
posed,  effect  of  his  handsome  head  and  shoulders.  He 
smiled  with  a  tender  expression,  as  one  smiles  at  the 
weakness  of  those  one  loves.  Suddenly  he  said :  "  By 
Jove,  Rita  —  just  the  thing!" 

"  What?  "  asked  the  girl,  resuming  the  languid  wav 
ing  of  her  eagle  fan. 

"  Marry  him  —  marry  Josh  Craig.  He'll  not  make 
much  money  out  of  politics.  I  doubt  if  even  a  woman 
could  corrupt  him  that  far.  But  you  could  take  him 
out  of  politics  and  put  him  in  the  law.  He  could  roll 
it  up  there.  The  good  lawyers  sell  themselves  dear 
nowadays,  and  he'd  make  a  killing." 

"  This  sounds  interesting." 

"  It's  a  wonder  I  hadn't  thought  of  it  before." 

The  girl  gave  a  curious,  quiet  smile.  "  7  had,"  said 
she. 

"  You  had !  "  exclaimed  Arkwright. 

30 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

"  A  woman  always  keeps  a  careful  list  of  eligibles," 
explained  she.  "  As  Bucy  Burke  told  me  he  was  headed 
for  Washington,  I  put  him  on  my  list  that  very  night  — 
well  down  toward  the  bottom,  but,  still,  on  it.  I  had 
quite  forgotten  him  until  to-night." 

Arkwright  was  staring  at  her.  Her  perfect  frank 
ness,  absolute  naturalness  with  him,  unreserved  trust  of 
him,  gave  him  a  guilty  feeling  for  the  bitter  judgment 
on  her  character  which  he  had  secretly  formed  as  the 
result  of  her  confidences.  "  Yet,  really,"  thought  he, 
"  she's  quite  the  nicest  girl  I  know,  and  the  cleverest. 
If  she  had  hid  herself  from  me,  as  the  rest  do,  I'd  never 
for  one  instant  have  suspected  her  of  having  so  much  — 
so  much  —  calm,  good  sense  —  for  that's  all  it  amounts 
to."  He  decided  it  was  a  mistake  for  any  human  being 
in  any  circumstances  to  be  absolutely  natural  and  un- 
concealingly  candid.  "  We're  such  shallow  fakers," 
reflected  he,  "  that  if  any  one  confesses  to  us  things 
not  a  tenth  part  as  bad  as  what  we  privately  think 
and  do,  why,  we  set  him  —  or  her  —  especially  her  — 
down  as  a  living,  breathing  atrocity  in  pants  or  petti 
coats." 

Margaret  was  of  the  women  who  seem  never  to  think 
of  what  they  are  really  absorbed  in,  and  never  to  look  at 
what  they  are  really  scrutinizing.  She  disconcerted 

31 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

him  by  interrupting  his  reflections  with :  "  Your  private 
opinion  of  me  is  of  small  consequence  to  me,  Grant,  be 
side  the  relief  and  the  joy  of  being  able  to  say  my  secret 
self  aloud.  Also  " —  here  she  grew  dizzy  at  her  own 
audacity  in  the  frankness  that  fools  — "  Also,  if  I 
wished  to  get  you,  Grant,  or  any  man,  I'd  not  be  silly 
enough  to  fancy  my  character  or  lack  of  it  would  affect 
him.  That  isn't  what  wins  men  —  is  it?  " 

"  You  and  Josh  Craig  have  a  most  uncomfortable 
way  of  answering  people's  thoughts,"  said  Arkwright. 
"  Now,  how  did  you  guess  I  was  thinking  mean  things 
about  you  ?  " 

"  For  the  same  reason  that  Mr.  Craig  is  able  to  guess 
what's  going  on  in  your  head." 

"  And  that  reason  is  — " 

She  laughed  mockingly.  "  Because  I  know  you, 
Grant  Arkwright  —  you,  the  meanest-generous  man,  and 
the  most  generous-mean  man  the  Lord  ever  permitted. 
The  way  to  make  you  generous  is  to  give  you  a  mean 
impulse;  the  way  to  make  you  mean  is  to  set  you  to 
fearing  you're  in  danger  of  being  generous." 

"  There's  a  bouquet  with  an  asp  coiled  in  it,"  said 
Arkwright,  pleased ;  for  with  truly  human  vanity  he 
had  accepted  the  compliment  and  had  thrown  away  the 
criticism.  "  I'll  go  bring  Josh  Craig." 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

"  No,  not  to-night,"  said  Miss  Severance,  with  a  sud 
den  compression  of  the  lips  and  a  stern,  almost  stormy 
contraction  of  the  brows. 

"  Please  don't  do  that,  Rita,"  cried  Arkwright.  "  It 
reminds  me  of  your  grandmother." 

The  girl's  face  cleared  instantly,  and  all  overt  signs 
of  strength  of  character  vanished  in  her  usual  expres 
sion  of  sweet,  reserved  femininity.  "  Bring  him  to 
morrow,"  said  she.  "  A  little  late,  please.  I  want  others 
to  be  there,  so  that  I  can  study  him  unobserved."  She 
laughed.  "  This  is  a  serious  matter  for  me.  My  time 
is  short,  and  my  list  of  possible  eligibles  less  extended 
than  I  could  wish."  And  with  a  satiric  smile  and  a  long, 
languorous,  coquettish  glance,  she  waved  him  away  and 
waved  the  waiting  Jackie  into  his  place. 

Arkwright  found  Craig  clear  of  "  Patsy  "  Raymond 
and  against  the  wall  near  the  door.  He  was  obviously 
unconscious  of  himself,  of  the  possibility  that  he  might 
be  observed.  His  eyes  were  pouncing  from  blaze  of 
jewels  to  white  neck,  to  laughing,  sensuous  face,  to 
jewels  again  or  to  lithe,  young  form,  scantily  clad  and 
swaying  in  masculine  arm  in  rhythm  with  the  waltz.  It 
gave  Arkwright  a  qualm  of  something  very  like  terror 
to  note  the  contrast  between  his  passive  figure  and  his 
roving  eyes  with  their  wolfish  gleam  —  like  Bliicher, 

33 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

when  he  looked  out  over  London  and  said :  "  God ! 
What  a  city  to  sack ! " 

Arkwright  thought  Josh  was  too  absorbed  to  be 
aware  of  his  approach ;  but  as  soon  as  he  was  beside  him 
Josh  said :  "  You  were  right  about  that  apartment  of 
mine.  It's  a  squalid  hole.  Six  months  ago,  when  I  got 
my  seventy-five  hundred  a  year,  I  thought  I  was  rich. 
Rich?  Why,  that  woman  there  has  ten  years'  salary 
on  her  hair. ,  All  the  money  I  and  my  whole  family  ever 
saw  wouldn't  pay  for  the  rings  on  any  one  of  a  hundred 
hands  here.  It  makes  me  mad  and  it  makes  me  greedy." 

"  I  warned  you,"  said  Arkwright. 

Craig  wheeled  on  him.  "  You  don't  —  can't  —  un 
derstand.  You're  like  all  these  people.  Money  is  your 
god.  But  I  don't  want  money,  I  want  power  —  to 
make  all  these  snobs  with  their  wealth,  these  million 
aires,  these  women  with  fine  skins  and  beautiful  bodies, 
bow  down  before  me  —  that's  what  I  want !  " 

Arkwright  laughed.    "  Well,  it's  up  to  you,  Joshua." 

Craig  tossed  his  Viking  head.  "  Yes,  it's  up  to  me, 
and  I'll  get  what  I  want  —  the  people  and  I.  ... 
Who's  that  frightful  person?  " 

Into  the  room,  only  a  few  feet  from  them,  advanced 
an  old  woman  —  very  old,  but  straight  as  a  projectile. 
She  carried  her  head  high,  and  her  masses  of  gray- 

34 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

white  hair,  coiled  like  a  crown,  gave  her  the  seeming 
of  royalty  in  full  panoply.  There  was  white  lace  over 
her  black  velvet  at  the  shoulders ;  her  train  swept  yards 
behind  her.  She  was  bearing  a  cane,  or  rather  a  staff, 
of  ebony ;  but  it  suggested,  not  decrepitude,  but  power 
—  perhaps  even  a  weapon  that  might  be  used  to  enforce 
authority  should  occasion  demand.  In  her  face,  in  her 
eyes,  however,  there  was  that  which  forbade  the  sup 
position  of  any  revolt  being  never  so  remotely  possible. 

As  she  advanced  across  the  ballroom,  dancing  ceased 
before  her  and  around  her,  and  but  for  the  noise  of 
the  orchestra  there  would  have  been  an  awed  and  pain 
ful  silence.  Mrs.  Burke's  haughty  daughter-in-law, 
with  an  expression  of  eager  desire  to  conciliate  and  to 
please,  hastened  forward  and  conducted  the  old  lady  to 
a  gilt  armchair  in  the  center  of  the  dais,  across  the  end 
of  the  ballroom.  It  was  several  minutes  before  the 
gayety  was  resumed,  and  then  it  seemed  to  have  lost 
the  abandon  which  the  freely-flowing  champagne  had 
put  into  it. 

"  Who  is  that  frightful  person  ?  "  repeated  Craig.  He 
was  scowling  like  a  king  angered  and  insulted  by  the 
advent  of  an  eclipsing  rival. 

"  Grandma,"  replied  Arkwright,  his  flippancy  care 
fully  keyed  low. 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  I've  never  seen  a  more  dreadful  person !  "  exclaimed 
Craig  angrily.  "  And  a  woman,  too !  She's  the  exact 
reverse  of  everything  a  woman  should  be  —  no  sweet 
ness,  no  gentleness.  I  can't  believe  she  ever  brought  a 
child  into  the  world." 

"  She  probably  doubts  it  herself,"  said  Arkwright. 

"  Why  does  everybody  cringe  before  her?  " 

"  That's  what  everybody  asks.  She  hasn't  any  huge 
wealth  —  or  birth,  either,  for  that  matter.  It's  just  the 
custom.  We  defer  to  her  here  precisely  as  we  wear  claw 
hammer  coats  and  low-neck  dresses.  Nobody  thinks  of 
changing  the  custom." 

Josh's  lip  curled.  "  Introduce  me  to  her,"  he  said 
commandingly. 

Arkwright  looked  amused  and  alarmed.  "  Not  to 
night.  All  in  good  time.  She's  the  grandmother  of  a 
young  woman  I  want  you  to  meet.  She's  Madair 
Bowker,  and  the  girl's  name  is  Severence." 

"  I  want  to  meet  that  old  woman,"  persisted  Josh. 
Never  before  had  he  seen  a  human  being  who  gave 
him  a  sense  of  doubt  as  to  the  superiority  of  his  own 
will. 

"  Don't  be  in  too  big  a  hurry  for  Waterloo,"  jested 
Arkwright.  "  It's  coming  toward  you  fast  enough. 
That  old  lady  will  put  you  in  your  place.  After  ten 

36 


IN   THE   BEST   SOCIETY 

minutes  of  her,  you'll  feel  like  a  schoolboy  who  has  '  got 
his  '  for  sassing  the  teacher." 

"  I  want  to  meet  her,"  repeated  Craig.  And  he 
watched  her  every  movement ;  watched  the  men  and 
women  bowing  deferentially  about  her  chair;  watched 
her  truly  royal  dignity,  as  she  was  graciously  pleased  to 
relax  now  and  then. 

"  Every  society  has  its  mumbo- jumbo  to  keep  it  in 
order,"  said  Arkwright.  "  She's  ours.  .  .  .  I'm 
dead  tired.  You've  done  enough  for  one  night.  It's  a 
bad  idea  to  stay  too  long;  it  creates  an  impression  of 
frivolity.  Come  along !  " 

Craig  went,  reluctantly,  with  several  halts  and  back 
ward  glances  at  the  old  lady  of  the  ebon  staff. 


37 


CHAPTER  III 

A  DESPERATE  YOUNG  WOMAN 

The  house  where  the  Severences  lived,  and  had  lived 
for  half  a  century,  was  built  by  Lucius  Quintus  Sever- 
ence,  Alabama  planter,  suddenly  and,  for  the  ante 
bellum  days,  notably  rich  through  a  cotton  speculation. 
When  he  built,  Washington  had  no  distinctly  fashion 
able  quarter;  the  neighborhood  was  then  as  now  small, 
cheap  wooden  structures  where  dwelt  in  genteel  discom 
fort  the  families  of  junior  Department  clerks.  Lucius 
Quintus  chose  the  site  partly  for  the  view,  partly  be 
cause  spacious  grounds  could  be  had  at  a  nominal  figure, 
chiefly  because  part  of  his  conception  of  aristocracy  was 
to  dwell  in  grandeur  among  the  humble.  The  Severence 
place,  enclosed  by  a  high  English-like  wall  of  masonry, 
filled  the  whole  huge  square.  On  each  of  its  four  sides 
it  put  in  sheepish  and  chop-fallen  countenance  a  row  of 
boarding  houses.  In  any  other  city  the  neighborhood 
would  have  been  intolerable  because  of  the  noise  of  the 
rowdy  children.  But  in  Washington  the  boarding  housa 
class  cannot  afford  children ;  so,  few  indeed  were  the 

38 


A    DESPERATE    YOUNG    WOMAN 

small  forms  that  paused  before  the  big  iron  Severence 
gates  to  gaze  into  the  mysterious  maze  of  green  as  far 
as  might  be  —  which  was  not  far,  because  the  walk  and 
the  branching  drives  turn  abruptly  soon  after  leaving 
the  gates. 

From  earliest  spring  until  almost  Christmas  that  mass 
of  green  was  sweet  with  perfume  and  with  the  songs  of 
appreciative  colonies  of  bright  birds.  In  the  midst  of 
the  grounds,  and  ingeniously  shut  in  on  all  sides  from 
any  view  that  could  spoil  the  illusion  of  a  forest,  stood 
the  house,  Colonial,  creeper-clad,  brightened  in  all  its 
verandas  and  lawns  by  gay  flowers,  pink  and  white  pre 
dominating.  The  rooms  were  large  and  lofty  of  ceiling, 
and  not  too  uncomfortable  in  winter,  as  the  family  was 
accustomed  to  temperatures  below  the  average  American 
indoors.  In  spring  and  summer  and  autumn  the  rooms 
were  delightful,  with  their  old-fashioned  solid  furniture, 
their  subdued  colors  and  tints,  their  elaborate  arrange 
ments  for  regulating  the  inpour  of  light.  All  this  sug 
gested  wealth.  But  the  Severences  were  not  rich.  They 
had  about  the  same  amount  of  money  that  old  Lucius 
Quintus  had  left;  but,  just  as  the  neighborhood  seemed 
to  have  degenerated  when  in  fact  it  had  remained  all  but 
unchanged,  so  the  Severence  fortune  seemed  to  have 
declined,  altogether  through  changes  of  standard  else- 

39 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

where.  The  Severences  were  no  poorer;  simply,  other 
people  of  their  class  had  grown  richer,  enormously 
richer.  The  Severence  homestead,  taken  by  itself  and 
apart  from  its  accidental  setting  of  luxurious  grounds, 
was  a  third-rate  American  dwelling-house,  fine  for  a 
small  town,  but  plain  for  a  city.  And  the  Severence 
fortune  by  contrast  with  the  fortunes  so  lavishly  dis 
played  in  the  fashionable  quarter  of  the  capital,  was 
a  meager  affair,  just  enough  for  comfort;  it  was  far 
too  small  for  the  new  style  of  wholesale  entertainment 
which  the  plutocracy  has  introduced  from  England, 
where  the  lunacy  for  aimless  and  extravagant  display 
rages  and  ravages  in  its  full  horror  of  witless  vulgarity. 
Thus,  the  Severences  from  being  leaders  twenty  years 
before,  had  shrunk  into  "  quiet  people,"  were  saved 
from  downright  obscurity  and  social  neglect  only  by 
the  indomitable  will  and  tireless  energy  of  old  Cornelia 
Bowker. 

Cornelia  Bowker  was  not  a  Severence;  in  fact  she 
was  by  birth  indisputably  a  nobody.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Lard,  and  the  Lards  were  "  poor  white  trash."  By 
one  of  those  queer  freaks  wherewith  nature  loves  to 
make  mockery  of  the  struttings  of  men,  she  was  en 
dowed  with  ambition  and  with  the  intelligence  and  will 
to  make  it  effective.  Her  first  ambition  was  education; 

40 


A    DESPERATE    YOUNG    WOMAN 

by  performing  labors  and  sacrifices  incredible,  she  got 
herself  a  thorough  education.  Her  next  ambition  was 
to  be  rich;  without  the  beauty  that  appeals  to  the 
senses,  she  married  herself  to  a  rich  New  Englander, 
Henry  Bowker.  Her  final  and  fiercest  ambition  was 
social  power.  She  married  her  daughter  to  the  only  son 
and  namesake  of  Lucius  Quintus  Severence.  The  pre 
tensions  of  aristocracy  would  soon  collapse  under  the 
feeble  hands  of  born  aristocrats  were  it  not  for  twa 
things  —  the  passion  of  the  masses  of  mankind  for 
looking  up,  and  the  frequent  infusions  into  aristocratic 
veins  of  vigorous  common  blood.  Cornelia  Bowker,  born 
Lard,  adored  "  birth."  In  fulfilling  her  third  ambition 
she  had  herself  born  again.  From  the  moment  of  the 
announcement  of  her  daughter's  engagement  to  Lucius 
Severence,  she  ceased  to  be  Lard  or  Bowker  and  became 
Severence,  more  of  a  Severence  than  any  of  the  veritable 
Severences.  Soon  after  her  son-in-law  and  his  father 
died,  she  became  so  much  the  Severence  that  fashion 
able  people  forgot  her  origin,  regarded  her  as  the  true 
embodiment  of  the  pride  and  rank  of  Severence  —  and 
Severence  became,  thanks  wholly  to  her,  a  synonym  for 
pride  and  rank,  though  really  the  Severences  were  not 
especially  blue-blooded. 

She  did  not  live  with  her  widowed  daughter,  as  two 

41 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

establishments  were  more  impressive ;  also,  she  knew  that 
she  was  not  a  livable  person  —  and  thought  none  the 
worse  of  herself  for  that  characteristic  of  strong  per 
sonalities.  In  the  Severence  family,  at  the  homestead, 
there  were,  besides  five  servants,  but  three  persons  — 
the  widowed  Roxana  and  her  two  daughters,  Margaret 
and  Lucia  —  Lucia  so  named  by  Madam  Bowker  be 
cause  with  her  birth  ended  the  Severence  hopes  of  a  son 
to  perpetuate  in  the  direct  line  the  family  Christian 
name  for  its  chief  he,ir.  From  the  side  entrance  to  the 
house  extended  an  alley  of  trees,  with  white  flowering 
bushes  from  trunk  to  trunk  like  a  hedge.  At  one  end 
of  the  alley  was  a  pretty,  arched  veranda  of  the  house, 
with  steps  descending ;  at  the  other  end,  a  graceful  foun 
tain  in  a  circle,  round  which  extended  a  stone  bench. 
Here  Margaret  was  in  the  habit  of  walking  every  good 
day,  and  even  in  rainy  weather,  immediately  after  lunch ; 
and  here,  on  the  day  after  the  Burke  dance,  at  the  usual 
time,  she  was  walking,  as  usual  —  up  and  down,  up  and 
down,  a  slow  even  stride,  her  arms  folded  upon  her  chest, 
the  muscles  of  her  mouth  moving  as  she  chewed  a  wooden 
tooth-pick  toward  a  pulp.  As  she  walked,  her  eyes 
held  steady  like  a  soldier's,  as  if  upon  the  small  of  the 
back  of  an  invisible  walker  in  front  of  her.  Lucia,  stout, 

42 


A   DESPERATE   YOUNG   WOMAN 

rosy,  lazy,  sprawling  upon  the  bench,  her  eyes  opening 
and  closing  drowsily,  watched  her  sister  like  a  sleepy, 
comfortable  cat.  The  sunbeams,  filtering  through  the 
leafy  arch,  coquetted  with  Margaret's  raven  hair,  and 
alternately  brightened  and  shadowed  her  features.  There 
was  little  of  feminine  softness  in  those  unguarded  fea 
tures,  much  of  intense  and  apparently  far  from  agree 
able  thought.  It  was  one  of  her  bad  days,  mentally  as 
well  as  physically  —  probably  mentally  because  physical 
ly.  She  had  not  slept  more  than  two  hours  at  most, 
and  her  eyes  and  skin  showed  it. 

"  However  do  you  stand  it,  Rita ! "  said  Lucia,  as 
Margaret  approached  the  fountain  for  the  thirty- 
seventh  time.  "  It's  so  dull  and  tiring,  to  walk  that 
way." 

"  I've  got  to  keep  my  figure,"  replied  Margaret, 
dropping  her  hands  to  her  slender  hips,  and  lifting  her 
shoulders  in  a  movement  that  drew  down  her  corsets  and 
showed  the  fine  length  of  her  waist. 

"  That's  nonsense,"  said  Lucia.  "  All  we  Sever- 
ences  get  stout  as  we  grow  old.  You  can't  hope  to 
escape." 

"  Grow  old !  "  Margaret's  brow  lowered.  Then  she 
smiled  satirically.  "  Yes,  I  am  growing  old.  I  don't 

43 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

dare  think  how  many  seasons  out,  and  not  married,  or 
even  engaged.  If  we  were  rich,  I'd  be  a  young  girl  still. 
As  it  is,  I'm  getting  on.' '' 

"  Don't  you  worry  about  that,  Rita,"  said  Lucia. 
"  Don't  you  let  them  hurry  you  into  anything  desperate. 
I'm  sure  7  don't  want  to  come  out.  I  hate  society  and 
I  don't  care  about  men.  It's  much  pleasanter  lounging 
about  the  house  and  reading.  No  dressing  —  no  fussing 
with  clothes  and  people  you  hate." 

"  It  isn't  fair  to  you,  Lucy,"  said  Margaret.  "  I 
don't  mind  their  nagging,  but  I  do  mind  standing  in 
your  way.  And  they'll  keep  you  back  as  long  as  I'm 
still  on  the  market." 

"  But  I  want  to  be  kept  back."  Lucia  spoke  almost 
energetically,  half  lifting  her  form  whose  efflorescence 
had  a  certain  charm  because  it  was  the  over-luxuriance  of 
healthy  youth.  "  I  shan't  marry  till  I  find  the  right 
man.  I'm  a  fatalist.  I  believe  there's  a  man  for  me 
somewhere,  and  that  he'll  find  me,  though  I  was  hid  — 
was  hid  —  even  here."  And  she  gazed  romantically 
round  at  the  enclosing  walls  of  foliage. 

The  resolute  lines,  the  "  unfeminine  "  expression  dis 
appeared  from  her  sister's  face.  She  laughed  softly  and 
tenderly.  "  What  a  dear  you  are !  "  she  cried. 

"  You  can  scoff  all  you    please,"    retorted    Lucia, 


A    DESPERATE    YOUNG    WOMAN 

stoutly.  .  "  I  believe  it.  We'll  see  if  I'm  not  right. 
.  .  .  How  lovely  you  did  look  last  night!  .  .  . 
You  wait  for  your  *  right  man.'  Don't  let  them  hurry 
you.  The  most  dreadful  things  happen  as  the  result  of 
girls'  hurrying,  and  then  meeting  him  when  it's  too 
late." 

"  Not  to  women  who  have  the  right  sort  of  pride." 
Margaret  drew  herself  up,  and  once  more  her  far-away 
but  decided  resemblance  to  Grandmother  Bowker  showed 
itself.  "  I'd  never  be  weak  enough  to  fall  in  love  unless 
I  wished." 

"  That's  not  weakness ;  it's  strength,"  declared  Lucia, 
out  of  the  fulness  of  experience  gleaned  from  a  hundred 
novels  or  more. 

Margaret  shook  her  head  uncompromisingly.  "  It'd 
be  weakness  for  me."  She  dropped  upon  the  bench  be 
side  her  sister.  "  I'm  going  to  marry,  and  I'm  going  to 
superintend  your  future  myself.  I'm  not  going  to  let 
them  kill  all  the  fine  feeling  in  you,  as  they've  killed  it 
in  me." 

"  Killed  it ! "  said  Lucia,  reaching  out  for  her  sister's 
hand.  "  You  can't  say  it's  dead,  so  long  as  you  cry 
like  you  did  last  night,  when  you  came  home  from  the 
ball." 

Margaret  reddened  angrily,  snatched  her  hand  away. 

45 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Shame  on  you ! "  she  cried.     "  I  thought  you  were 
above  spying." 

"  The  door  was  open  between  your  bedroom  and 
mine,"  pleaded  Lucia.  "  I  couldn't  help  hearing." 

"  You  ought  to  have  called  out  —  or  closed  it.  In 
this  family  I  can't  claim  even  my  soul  as  my  own ! " 

"  Please,  dear,"  begged  Lucia,  sitting  up  now  and 
struggling  to  put  her  arms  round  her  sister,  "  you  don't 
look  on  me  as  an  outsider,  do  you?  Why,  I'm  the  only 
one  in  all  the  world  who  knows  you  as  you  are  —  how 
sweet  and  gentle  and  noble  you  are.  All  the  rest  think 
you're  cold  and  cynical,  and  — " 

"  So  I  am,"  said  Margaret  reflectively,  "  except  to 
ward  only  you.  I'm  grandmother  over  again,  with  what 
she'd  call  a  rotten  spot." 

"  That  iotten  spot's  the  real  you,"  protested  Lucia. 

Margaret  broke  away  from  her  and  resumed  her  walk. 
"  You'll  see,"  said  she,  her  face  stern  and  bitter  once 
more. 

A  maidservant  descended  the  steps.  "  Madam  Bowker 
has  come,"  announced  she,  "  and  is  asking  for  you,  Miss 
Rita." 

A  look  that  could  come  only  from  a  devil  temper 
flashed  into  Margaret's  hazel  eyes.  "  Tell  her  I'm  out." 

"  She  saw  you  from  the  window." 

46 


A    DESPERATE    YOUNG    WOMAN 

Margaret  debated.  Said  Lucia,  "  When  she  comes 
so  soon  after  lunch  she's  always  in  a  frightful  mood. 
She  comes  then  to  make  a  row  because,  without  her  after- 
lunch  nap,  she's  hardly  human  and  can  be  more  —  more 
fiendish." 

"  I'll  not  see  her,"  declared  Margaret. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  will,"  said  Lucia.  "  Grandmother  al 
ways  has  her  way." 

Margaret  turned  to  the  maid.  "  Tell  her  I  had  just 
gone  to  my  room  with  a  raging  headache." 

The  maid  departed.  Margaret  made  a  detour,  entered 
the  house  by  the  kitchen  door  and  went  up  to  her  room. 
She  wrenched  off  blouse  and  skirt,  got  into  a  dressing 
sacque  and  let  down  her  thick  black  hair.  The  headache 
was  now  real,  so  upsetting  to  digestion  had  been  the 
advent  of  Madam  Bowker,  obviously  on  mischief  bent. 
"  She  transforms  me  into  a  raging  devil,"  thought  Mar 
garet,  staring  at  her  fiercely  sullen  countenance  in  the 
mirror  of  the  dressing  table.  "  I  wish  I'd  gone  in  to 
see  her.  I'm  in  just  the  right  humor." 

The  door  opened  and  Margaret  whisked  round  to 
blast  the  intruder  who  had  dared  adventure  her  privacy 
without  knocking.  There  stood  her  grandmother  — 
ebon  staff  in  gloved  hand  —  erect,  spare  body  in  rustling 
silk  —  gray-white  hair  massed  before  a  sort  of  turban  — 

47 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

steel-blue  eyes  flashing,  delicate  nostrils  dilating  with  the 
breath  of  battle. 

"  Ah  —  Margaret !  "  said  she,  and  her  sharp,  quarrel- 
seeking  voice  tortured  the  girl's  nerves  like  the  point  of 
a  lancet.  "  They  tell  me  you  have  a  headache."  She 
lifted  her  lorgnon  and  scrutinized  the  pale,  angry  face 
of  her  granddaughter.  "  I  see  they  were  telling  me  the 
truth.  You  are  haggard  and  drawn  and  distressingly 
yellow." 

The  old  lady  dropped  her  lorgnon,  seated  herself. 
She  held  her  staff  out  at  an  angle,  as  if  she  were  Majesty 
enthroned  to  pass  judgment  of  life  and  death.  "  You 
took  too  much  champagne  at  those  vulgar  Burkes  last 
night,"  she  proceeded.  "  It's  a  vicious  thing  for  a  girl 
to  do  —  vicious  in  every  way.  It  gives  her  a  reputation 
for  moral  laxity  which  an  unmarried  woman  can  ill- 
afford  to  have  —  unless  she  has  the  wealth  that  makes 
men  indifferent  to  character.  .  .  .  Why  don't  you 
answer?  " 

Margaret  shrugged  her  shoulders.  "  You  know  I 
detest  champagne  and  never  drink  it,"  said  she.  "  And 
I  don't  purpose  to  begin,  even  to  oblige  you." 

"  To  oblige  me !  " 

"  To  give  you  pretext  for  contention  and  nagging 
and  quarreling." 

48 


Ah — Margaret !  '     .     .     .     Her  sharp,  quarrel-seeking 
voice  tortured  the  girl's  nerves." 


A    DESPERATE    YOUNG    WOMAN 

Madam  Bowker  was  now  in  the  element  she  had  been 
seeking  —  the  stormy  sea  of  domestic  wrangling.  She 
struck  out  boldly,  with  angry  joy.  "  I've  long  since 
learned  not  to  expect  gratitude  from  you.  I  can't  un 
derstand  my  own  weakness,  my  folly,  in  continuing  to 
labor  with  you." 

"  That's  very  simple,"  said  Margaret.  "  I'm  the  one 
human  being  you  can't  compel  by  hook  or  crook  to  bow 
to  your  will.  You  regard  me  as  unfinished  business." 

Madam  Bowker  smiled  grimly  at  this  shrewd  analysis. 
"  I  want  to  see  you  married  and  properly  settled  in  life. 
I  want  to  end  this  disgrace.  I  want  to  save  you  from 
becoming  ridiculous  and  contemptible  —  an  ob j  ect  of 
laughter  and  of  pity." 

"  You  want  to  see  me  married  to  some  man  I  dislike 
and  should  soon  hate." 

"  I  want  to  see  you  married,"  retorted  the  old  lady. 
"  I  can't  be  held  responsible  for  your  electing  to  hate 
whatever  is  good  for  you.  And  I  came  to  tell  you  that 
my  patience  is  about  exhausted.  If  you  are  not  en 
gaged1  by  the  end  of  this  season,  I  wash  my  hands  of 
you.  I  have  been  spending  a  great  deal  of  money  in  the 
effort  to  establish  you.  You  are  a  miserable  failure 
socially.  You  attach  only  worthless  men.  You  drive 
away  the  serious  men." 

49 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Stupid,  you  mean." 

"  I  mean  serious  —  the  men  looking  for  wives.  Men 
who  have  something  and  have  a  right  to  aspire  to  the 
hand  of  my  grandchild.  The  only  men  who  have  a 
right  to  take  the  time  of  an  unmarried  woman.  You 
either  cannot,  or  will  not,  exert  yourself  to  please.  You 
avoid  young  girls  and  young  men.  You  waste  your  life 
with  people  already  settled.  You  have  taken  on  the  full 
airs  and  speech  of  a  married  woman,  in  advance  of 
having  a  husband  —  and  that  is  folly  bordering  on 
insanity.  You  have  discarded  everything  that  men  — 
marrying  men  —  the  right  sort  of  men  —  demand  in 
maidenhood.  I  repeat,  you  are  a  miserable  failure." 

"  A  miserable  failure,"  echoed  Margaret,  staring  dis 
mally  into  the  glass. 

"  And  I  repeat,"  continued  the  old  lady,  somewhat 
less  harshly,  though  not  less  resolutely,  "  this  season 
ends  it.  You  must  marry  or  I'll  stop  your  allowance. 
You'll  have  to  look  to  your  mother  for  your  dresses 
and  hats  and  gee-gaws.  When  I  think  of  the  thousands 
of  dollars  I've  wasted  on  you  —  It's  cheating  —  it's 
cheating !  You  have  been  stealing  from  me !  "  Madam 
Bowker's  tone  was  almost  unladylike ;  her  ebon  staff  was 
flourishing  threateningly. 

Margaret  started  up.  "  I  warned  you  at  the  outset !  " 

50 


A    DESPERATE    YOUNG    WOMAN 

she  cried.  "  I  took  nothing  from  you  that  you  didn't 
force  on  me.  And  now,  when  you've  made  dress,  and 
all  that,  a  necessity  for  me,  you  are  going  to  snatch  it 
away ! " 

"  Giving  you  money  for  dress  is  wasting  it,"  cried  the 
old  lady.  "  What  is  dress  for?  Pray  why,  do  you 
imagine,  have  I  provided  you  with  three  and  four  dozen 
expensive  dresses  a  year  and  hats  and  lingerie  and  every 
thing  in  proportion  ?  Just  to  gratify  your  vanity  ?  No, 
indeed!  To  enable  you  to  get  a  husband,  one  able  to 
provide  for  you  as  befits  your  station.  And  because  I 
have  been  generous  with  you,  because  I  have  spared  no 
expense  in  keeping  you  up  to  your  station,  in  giving 
you  opportunity,  you  turn  on  me  and  revile  me ! " 

"  You  have  been  generous,  Grandmother,"  said  Mar 
garet,  humbly.  There  had  risen  up  before  her  a  hun 
dred  extravagances  in  which  the  old  lady  had  indulged 
her  —  things  quite  unnecessary  for  show,  the  intimate 
luxuries  that  contribute  only  indirectly  to  show  by  aid 
ing  in  giving  the  feeling  and  air  of  refinement.  It  was  of 
these  luxuries  that  Margaret  was  especially  fond ;  and  her 
grandmother,  with  an  instinct  that  those  tastes  of  Mar 
garet's  proved  her  indeed  a  lady  —  and  made  it  im 
possible  that  she  should  marry,  or  even  think  of  marry 
ing,  "  foolishly  " —  had  been  most  graciously  generous 

51 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

in  gratifying  them.  Now,  these  luxuries  were  to  be 
withdrawn,  these  pampered  tastes  were  to  be  starved. 
Margaret  collapsed  despairingly  upon  her  table.  "  I 
wish  to  marry,  Heaven  knows !  Only  —  only  — "  She 
raised  herself ;  her  lip  quivered  —  "  Good  God,  Grand 
mother,  I  can't  give  myself  to  a  man  who  repels  me! 
You  make  me  hate  men  —  marriage  —  everything  of 
that  kind.  Sometimes  I  long  to  hide  in  a  convent !  " 

'*  You  can  indulge  that  longing  after  the  end  of 
this  season,"  said  her  grandmother.  "  You'll  certainly 
hardly  dare  show  yourself  in  Washington,  where  you 
have  become  noted  for  your  dress.  .  .  .  That's 
what  exasperates  me  against  you!  No  girl  appreciates 
refinement  and  luxury  more  than  you  do.  No  woman 
has  better  taste,  could  use  a  large  income  to  better  ad 
vantage.  And  you  have  intelligence.  You  know  you 
must  have  a  competent  husband.  Yet  you  fritter  away 
your  opportunities.  A  very  short  time,  and  you'll  be 
a  worn,  faded  old  maid,  and  the  settled  people  who  pro 
fess  to  be  so  fond  of  you  will  be  laughing  at  you,  and 
deriding  you,  and  pitying  you." 

Deriding !     Pitying ! 

"  I've  no  patience  with  the  women  of  that  clique  you're 
so  fond  of,"  the  old  lady  went  on.  "  If  the  ideas  they 
profess  —  the  shallow  frauds  that  they  are!  —  were  to 

52 


A    DESPERATE    YOUNG    WOMAN 

prevail,  what  would  become  of  women  of  our  station? 
Women  should  hold  themselves  dear,  should  encourage 
men  in  that  old-time  reverence  for  the  sex  and  its  right 
to  be  sheltered  and  worshiped  and  showered  with  luxury. 
As  for  you  —  a  poor  girl  —  countenancing  such  low 
and  ruinous  views  —  Is  it  strange  I  am  disgusted  with 
you  ?  Have  you  no  pride  —  no  self-respect  ?  " 

Margaret  sat  motionless,  gazing  into  vacancy.  She 
could  not  but  endorse  every  word  her  grandmother  was 
saying.  She  had  heard  practically  those  same  words 
often,  but  they  had  had  no  effect;  now,  toward  the  end 
of  this  her  least  successful  season,  with  most  of  her  ac 
quaintances  married  off,  and  enjoying  and  flaunting  the 
luxury  she  might  have  had  —  for,  they  had  married  men 
of  "  the  right  sort  " — "  capable  husbands  " —  men  who 
had  been  more  or  less  attentive  to  her  —  now,  these  grim 
and  terrible  axioms  of  worldly  wisdom,  of  upper  class 
honor,  from  her  grandmother  sounded  in  her  ears  like 
the  boom  of  surf  on  reefs  in  the  ears  of  the  sailor. 

A  long  miserable  silence;  then,  her  grandmother: 
"  What  do  you  purpose  to  do,  Margaret  ?  " 

"  To  hustle,"  said  the  girl  with  a  short,  bitter  laugh. 
"  I  must  rope  in  somebody.  Oh,  I've  been  realizing, 
these  past  two  months.  I'm  awake  at  last." 

Madam  Bowker  studied  the  girl's  face,  gave  a  sigh 

53 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

of  relief.  "  I  feel  greatly  eased,"  said  she.  "  I  see  you 
are  coming  to  your  senses  before  it's  too  late.  I  knew 
you  would.  You  have  inherited  too  much  of  my  nature, 
of  my  brain  and  my  character." 

Margaret  faced  the  old  woman  in  sudden  anger.  "  If 
you  had  made  allowances  for  that,  if  you  had  reasoned 
with  me  quietly,  instead  of  nagging  and  bullying 
and  trying  to  compel,  all  this  might  have  been  set 
tled  long  ago."  She  shrugged  her  shoulders.  "  But 
that's  past  and  done.  I'm  going  to  do  my  best. 
Only  —  I  warn  you,  don't  try  to  drive  me !  I'll  not  be 
driven ! " 

"  What  do  you  think  of  Grant  Arkwright  ?"  asked 
her  grandmother. 

"  I  intend  to  marry  him,"  replied  Margaret. 

The  old  lady's  stern  eyes  gleamed  delight. 

"  But,"  Margaret  hastened  to  add,  "  you  mustn't  in 
terfere.  He  doesn't  like  you.  He's  afraid  of  you.  If 
you  give  the  slightest  sign,  he'll  sheer  off.  You  must 
let  me  handle  him." 

"  The  insolent  puppy,"  muttered  Madam  Bowker. 
"  I've  always  detested  him." 

"  You  don't  want  me  to  marry  him  ?  " 

"  On  the  contrary,"  the  old  lady  replied.  "  He  would 
make  the  best  possible  husband  for  you."  She  smiled 

54 


A   DESPERATE    YOUNG   WOMAN 

like  a  grand  inquisitor  at  prospect  of  a  pleasant  day 
with  rack  and  screw.  "  He  needs  a  firm  hand,"  said 
she. 

Margaret  burst  out  laughing  at  this  implied  compli 
ment  to  herself;  then  she  colored  as  with  shame  and 
turned  away.  "  What  frauds  we  women  are !  "  she  ex 
claimed.  "  If  I  had  any  sense  of  decency  left,  I'd  be 
ashamed  to  do  it !  " 

"  There  you  go  again ! "  cried  her  grandmother. 
"  You  can't  be  practical  five  minutes  in  succession.  Why 
should  a  woman  be  ashamed  to  do  a  man  a  service  in 
spite  of  himself?  Men  are  fools  where  women  are  con 
cerned.  I  never  knew  one  that  was  not.  And  the  more 
sensible  they  are  in  other  respects,  the  bigger  fools  they 
are  about  us!  Left  to  themselves,  they  always  make 
a  mess  of  marriage.  They  think  they  know  what  they 
want,  but  they  don't.  We  have  to  teach  them.  A  man 
needs  a  firm  hand  during  courtship,  and  a  firmer  hand 
after  marriage.  So  many  wives  forget  their  duty 
and  relax.  If  you  don't  take  hold  of  that  young  Ark- 
wright,  he'll  no  doubt  fall  a  victim  to  some  unscrupulous 
hussy." 

Unscrupulous  hussy !  Margaret  looked  at  herself  in 
the  mirror,  met  her  own  eyes  with  a  cynical  laugh. 
"  Well,  I'm  no  worse  than  the  others,"  she  added,  half 

55 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

to  herself.  Presently  she  said,  "  Grant  is  coming  this 
afternoon.  I  look  a  fright.  I  must  take  a  headache 
powder  and  get  some  sleep." 

Her  grandmother  rose  instantly.  "  Yes,  you  do  look 
badly  —  for  you.  And  Arkwright  has  very  keen  eyes  — 
thanks  to  those  silly  women  of  your  set  who  teach  men 
things  they  have  no  business  to  know."  She  advanced 
and  kissed  her  granddaughter  graciously  on  top  of  the 
head.  "  I  am  glad  to  see  my  confidence  in  you  was  not 
misplaced,  Margaret,"  said  she.  "  I  could  not  believe 
I  was  so  utterly  mistaken  in  judgment  of  character.  I'll 
go  to  your  mother  and  take  her  for  a  drive." 


56 


CHAPTER  IV, 

"  HE  ISN'T  LIKE  us  " 

Margaret  continued  to  sit  there,  her  elbows  on  the 
dressing-table,  her  knuckles  pressing  into  her  cheeks,  the 
hazel  eyes  gazing  at  their  reflection  in  the  mirror.  "  What 
is  it  in  me,"  she  said  to  her  image,  "  that  makes  me  less 
successful  at  drawing  men  to  the  point  than  so  many 
girls  who  are  no  better  looking  than  I  ?  "  And  she  made 
an  inventory  of  her  charms  that  was  creditably  free 
from  vanity.  "  And  men  certainly  like  to  talk  to  me," 
she  pursued.  "  The  fish  bite,  but  the  hook  doesn't  hold. 
Perhaps  —  probably  —  I'm  not  sentimental  enough.  I 
don't  simper  and  pretend  innocence  and  talk  tommy  rot 
—  and  listen  to  it  as  if  I  were  eating  honey." 

This  explanation  was  not  altogether  satisfactory, 
however.  She  felt  that,  if  she  had  a  certain  physical 
something,  which  she  must  lack,  nothing  else  would  mat 
ter —  nothing  she  said  or  did.  It  was  baffling;  for, 
there,  before  her  eyes  were  precisely  the  charms  of  fea 
ture  and  figure  that  in  other  women,  in  far  less  degree, 
had  set  men,  many  men,  quite  beside  themselves.  Her 

57 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

lip  curled,  and  her  eyes  laughed  satirically  as  she  thought 
of  the  follies  of  those  men  —  how  they  had  let  women 
lead  them  up  and  down  in  public  places,  drooling  and 
sighing  and  seeming  to  enjoy  their  own  pitiful  plight. 
If  that  expression  of  satire  had  not  disappeared  so 
quickly,  she  might  have  got  at  the  secret  of  her  "  miser 
able  failure."  For,  it  was  her  habit  of  facing  men  with 
only  lightly  veiled  amusement,  or  often  frank  ridicule, 
in  her  eyes,  in  the  curve  of  her  lips,  that  frightened 
them  off,  that  gave  them  the  uneasy  sense  that  their 
assumptions  of  superiority  to  the  female  were  being 
judged  and  derided. 

But  time  was  flying.  It  was  after  three ;  the  headache 
was  still  pounding  in  her  temples,  and  her  eyes  did  look 
almost  as  haggard  and  her  skin  almost  as  sallow  as  her 
grandmother  had  said.  She  took  an  anti-pyrene  powder 
from  a  box  in  her  dressing-table,  threw  off  all  her  clothes, 
swathed  herself  in  a  long  robe  of  pale-blue  silk.  She 
locked  the  door  into  the  hall,  and  went  into  her  bedroom, 
closed  the  door  between.  She  put  the  powder  in  water, 
drank  it,  dropped  down  upon  a  lounge  at  the  foot  of 
her  bed  and  covered  herself.  The  satin  pillow  against 
her  cheek,  the  coolness  and  softness  of  the  silk  all  along 
and  around  her  body,  were  deliciously  soothing.  Her 
blood  beat  less  fiercely,  and  somber  thoughts  drew  slowly 

58 


'HE   ISN'T   LIKE    US" 


away  into  a  vague  cloud  at  the  horizon  of  her  mind.  Ly 
ing  there,  with  senses  soothed  by  luxury  and  deadened  to 
pain  by  the  drug,  she  felt  so  safe,  so  shut-in  against  all 
intrusion.  In  a  few  hours  the  struggle,  the  bitterness 
would  begin  again ;  but  at  least  here  was  this  interval  of 
repose,  of  freedom.  Only  when  she  was  thus  alone  did 
she  ever  get  that  most  voluptuous  of  all  sensations  — 
freedom.  Freedom  and  luxury !  "  I'm  afraid  I  can't 
eat  my  cake  and  have  it,  too,"  she  mused  drowsily. 
"  Well  —  whether  or  not  I  can  have  freedom,  at  least  I 
must  have  luxury.  I'm  afraid  Grant  can't  give  me 
nearly  all  I  want  —  who  could?  ...  If  I  had  the 
courage  —  Craig  could  make  more  than  Grant  has,  if  he 
were  put  to  it.  I'm  sure  he  could.  I'm  sure  he  could 
do  almost  anything  —  but  be  attractive  to  a  woman. 
No,  Craig  is  too  strong  a  dose  —  besides,  there's  the  risk* 
Grant  is  safest.  Better  a  small  loaf  than  —  than  no 
Paris  dresses." 

Arkwright,  entering  Mrs.  Severence's  drawing-room 
with  Craig  at  half -past  five,  found  a  dozen  people  there. 
Most  of  them  were  of  that  young  married  set  which 
Margaret  preferred,  to  the  anger  and  disgust  of  her 
grandmother  and  against  the  entreaties  of  her  own- 
common  sense.  "  The  last  place  in  the  world  to  look  for 

59 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

a  husband,"  Madam  Bowker  had  said  again  and  again, 
to  both  her  daughter  and  her  granddaughter.  "  Their 
ialk  is  all  in  ridicule  of  marriage,  and  of  every  sacred 
thing.  And  if  there  are  any  bachelors,  they  have  come 
—  well,  certainly  not  in  search  of  honorable  wedlock." 

The  room  was  noisily  gay ;  but  Margaret,  at  the  tea- 
table  in  a  rather  somber  brown  dress  with  a  big  brown 
hat,  whose  great  plumes  shadowed  her  pale,  somewhat 
haggard  face,  was  evidently  not  in  one  of  her  sparkling 
moods.  The  headache  powder  and  the  nap  had  not  been 
successful.  She  greeted  Arkwright  with  a  slight,  absent 
smile,  seemed  hardly  to  note  Craig,  as  Arkwright  pre 
sented  him. 

"  Sit  down  here  beside  Miss  Severence,"  Grant  said. 

"  Yes,  do,"  acquiesced  Margaret ;  and  Joshua  thought 
her  cold  and  haughty,  an  aristocrat  of  the  unapproach 
able  type,  never  natural  and  never  permitting  others  to 
be  natural. 

"  And  tell  her  all  about  yourself,"  continued  Grant. 
"  My  friend  Josh,  here,"  he  explained  to  Margaret,  "  is 
one  of  those  serious,  absorbed  men  who  concentrate  en 
tirely  upon  themselves.  It  isn't  egotism ;  it's  genius." 

Craig  was  ruffled  and  showed  it.  He  did  not  like 
persiflage;  it  seemed  an  assault  upon  dignity,  and  in 
those  early  days  in  Washington  he  was  full  of  dignity 

60 


"HE   ISN'T   LIKE    US" 


and  of  determination  to  create  a  dignified  impression. 
He  reared  haughtily  and  looked  about  with  arrogant,, 
disdainful  eyes. 

"  Will  you  have  tea?  "  said  Miss  Severence,  as  Ark- 
wright  moved  away. 

"  No,  thanks,"  replied  Craig.  "  Tea's  for  the  women 
and  the  children." 

Miss  Severence's  expression  made  him  still  more  un 
comfortable.  "  Well,"  said  she,  "  if  you  should  feel 
dry  as  you  tell  me  about  yourself,  there's  whiskey  over 
on  that  other  table.  A  cigarette?  No?  I'm  afraid 
I  can't  ask  you  to  have  a  cigar  — " 

"  And  take  off  my  coat,  and  put  my  feet  up,  and  be 
at  home !  "  said  Craig.  "  I  see  you  think  I'm  a  boor." 

"  Don't  you  want  people  to  think  you  a  boor?  "  in 
quired  she  with  ironic  seriousness. 

He  looked  at  her  sharply.  "  You're  laughing  at  me," 
he  said,  calmly.  "  Now,  wouldn't  it  be  more  ladylike 
for  you  to  try  to  put  me  at  my  ease?  I'm  in  your 
house,  you  know." 

Miss  Severence  flushed.  "  I  beg  your  pardon,"  she 
said.  "  I  did  not  mean  to  offend." 

"  No,"  replied  Craig.  "  You  simply  meant  to  amuse 
yourself  with  me.  And  because  I  don't  know  what  to 
do  with  my  hands  and  because  my  coat  fits  badly,  you 

61 


'ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

thought  I  wouldn't  realize  what  you  were  doing.  You 
are  very  narrow  —  you  fashionable  people.  You  don't 
even  know  that  everybody  ought  to  be  judged  on  his 
own  ground.  To  size  up  a  race-horse,  you  don't  take 
him  into  a  drawing  room.  And  it  wouldn't  be  quite  fair, 
would  it,  for  me  to  judge  these  drawing-room  dolls  by 
what  they  could  do  out  among  real  men  and  women? 
You  —  for  instance.  How  would  you  show  up,  if  you 
had  to  face  life  with  no  husband  and  no  money  and  five 
small  children,  as  my  mother  did?  Well,  she  won  out." 

Miss  Severence  was  not  attracted;  but  she  was  inter 
ested.  She  saw  beyond  the  ill-fitting  frock-coat,  and  the 
absurd  manner,  thoroughly  ill  at  ease,  trying  to  assume 
easy,  nonchalant  man-of-the-world  airs.  *'  I'd  never 
have  thought  of  judging  you  except  on  your  own 
ground,"  said  she,  "if  you  hadn't  invited  the  com 
parison." 

"  You  mean,  by  getting  myself  up  in  these  clothes  and 
coming  here?  " 

"  Yes." 

"You're  right,  young  lady,"  said  Craig,  clapping 
her  on  the  arm,  and  waving  an  energetic  forefinger  al 
most  in  her  face.  "  And  as  soon  as  I  can  decently  get 
away,  I'll  go.  I  told  Arkwright  I  had  no  business  to 
come  here." 

62 


fHE   ISN'T  LIKE    US" 


Miss  Severance  colored,  drew  her  arm  away,  froze. 
She  detested  all  forms  of  familiarity;  physical  familiar 
ity  she  abhorred.  "  You  have  known  Grant  Arkwright 
long  ?  "  she  said,  icily. 

"  Now,  what  have  I  done  ?  "  demanded  Joshua. 

She  eyed  him  with  a  lady's  insolent  tranquillity. 
"  Nothing,"  replied  she.  "  We  are  all  so  glad  Grant 
has  come  back." 

Craig  bit  his  lip  and  his  tawny,  weather-beaten  skin 
reddened.  He  stared  with  angry  envy  at  Arkwright,  so 
evidently  at  ease  and  at  home  in  the  midst  of  a  group 
on  the  other  side  of  the  room.  In  company,  practically 
all  human  beings  are  acutely  self-conscious.  But  self- 
consciousness  is  of  two  kinds.  Arkwright,  assured 
that  his  manners  were  correct  and  engaging,  that 
his  dress  was  all  it  should  be,  or  could  be,  that  his  po 
sition  was  secure  and  admired,  had  the  self-conscious 
ness  of  self-complacence.  Joshua's  consciousness  of 

. 
himself  was  the  extreme  of  the  other  kind  —  like  a  rat's 

in  a  trap. 

"  You  met  Mr.  Arkwright  out  West  —  out  where  you 
live?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Craig  curtly,  almost  surlily. 

"  I  was  out  there  once,"  pursued  the  young  woman, 
feeling  that  in  her  own  house  she  must  do  her  best 

63 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

^^^^^^^^^^^^•i^^^MI^M^^BBBMBi^^^^^^^^^MMB^^^^^^™""^^^*"^^^"^^^™*™"11"1"11^^^*  1 

•with   the    unfortunate   young   man.     "  And,    curiously 

enough,  I  heard  you  speak.     We  all  admired  you  very 

much." 

Craig  cheered  up  instantly ;  he  was  on  his  own  ground 

now.     "  How  long  ago  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Three  years ;  two  years  last  September." 

"  Oh,  I  was  a  mere  boy  then.     You  ought  to  hear  me 

v  now." 

And  Joshua  launched  forth  into  a  description  of  his 
oratory,  then  related  how  he  had  won  over  juries  in 
several  important  cases.  His  arms,  his  hands  were  go 
ing,  his  eyes  were  glistening,  his  voice  had  that  rich, 
sympathetic  tone  which  characterizes  the  egotist  when 
the  subject  is  himself.  Miss  Severence  listened  without 
comment;  indeed,  he  was  not  sure  that  she  was  listen 
ing,  so  conventional  was  her  expression.  But,  though 
she  was  careful  to  keep  her  face  a  blank,  her  mind  was 
busy.  Surely  not  since  the  gay  women  of  Barras's 
court  laughed  at  the  megalomaniac  ravings  of  a  noisy, 
badly  dressed,  dirty  young  lieutenant  named  Buona 
parte,  had  there  been  a  vanity  so  candid,  so  voluble,  so 
obstreperous.  Nor  did  he  talk  of  himself  in  a  detached 
way,  as  if  he  were  relating  the  performances  and  pre 
dicting  the  glory  of  a  human  being  who  happened  to 
have  the  same  name  as  himself.  No,  he  thrust  upon 

64 


fHE   ISN'T   LIKE    US3 


her  in  every  sentence  that  he,  he  himself  and  none  other, 
had  said  and  done  all  these  splendid  startling  things, 
would  do  more,  and  more  splendid.  She  listened,  as 
tounded  ;  she  wondered  why  she  did  not  burst  out  laugh 
ing  in  his  very  face,  why,  on  the  contrary,  she  seemed 
to  accept  to  a  surprising  extent  his  own  estimate  of 
himself. 

"  He's  a  fool,"  thought  she,  "  one  of  the  most  tedious 
fools  I  ever  met.  But  I  was  right ;  he's  evidently  very 
much  of  a  somebody.  However  does  he  get  time  to  do 
anything,  when  he's  so  busy  admiring  himself?  How 
does  he  ever  contrive  to  take  his  mind  off  himself  long 
enough  to  think  of  anything  else?  " 

Nearly  an  hour  later  Arkwright  came  for  him,  cut 
him  off  in  the  middle  of  an  enthusiastic  description  of 
how  he  had  enchained  and  enthralled  a  vast  audience  in 
the  biggest  hall  in  St.  Paul.  "  We  must  go,  this 
instant,"  said  Arkwright.  "  I  had  no  idea  it  was  so 
late." 

"  I'll  see  you  soon  again,  no  doubt,  Mr.  Craig,"  said 
Miss  Severence,  polite  but  not  cordial,  as  she  extended 
her  hand. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Craig,  holding  the  hand,  and  rudely 
not  looking  at  her  but  at  Arkwright.  "  You've  inter 
rupted  us  in  a  very  interesting  talk,  Grant." 

65 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Grant  and  Margaret  exchanged  smiles,  Margaret  dis 
engaged  her  hand,  and  the  two  men  went.  As  they 
were  strolling  down  the  drive,  Grant  said :  "  Well,  what 
did  you  think  of  her?  " 

"  A  nobody  —  a  nothing,"  was  Craig's  wholly  unex 
pected  response.  "  Homely  —  at  least  insignificant. 
Bad  color.  Dull  eyes.  Bad  manners.  A  poor  speci 
men,  even  of  this  poor  fashionable  society  of  yours.  An 
empty-head." 

"  Well  —  well  —  well!  "  exclaimed  Arkwright  in  de 
rision.  "  Yet  you  and  she  seemed  to  be  getting  on 
beautifully  together." 

"  I  did  all  the  talking." 

"  You  always  do." 

"  But  it  was  the  way  she  listened.  I  felt  as  if  I 
were  rehearsing  in  a  vacant  room." 

"  Humph,"  grunted  Arkwright. 

He  changed  the  subject.  The  situation  was  one  that 
required  thought,  plan.  "  She's  just  the  girl  for 
Josh,"  said  he  to  himself.  "  And  he  must  take  her. 
Of  course,  he's  not  the  man  for  her.  She  couldn't  care 
for  him,  not  in  a  thousand  years.  What  woman  with 
a  sense  of  humor  could?  But  she's  got  to  marry  some 
body  that  can  give  her  what  she  must  have.  .  ;  . 
It's  very  important  whom  a  man  marries,  but  it's  not 

66 


CHE   ISN'T   LIKE    US' 


at  all  important  whom  a  woman  marries.     The  world 
wasn't  made  for  them,  but  for  us!  " 

At  Vanderman's  that  night  he  took  Mrs.  Tate  in  to 
dinner,  but  Margaret  was  on  his  left.  "  When  does 
your  Craig  make  his  speech  before  the  Supreme 
Court  ?  "  asked  she. 

He  inspected  her  with  some  surprise.  "  Tuesday,  I 
think.  Why?" 

"  I  promised  him  I'd  go." 

"And  will  you?" 

"Certainly.     Why  not?" 

This  would  never  do.  Josh  would  get  the  impression 
she  was  running  after  him,  and  would  be  more  con 
temptuous  than  ever.  "  I  shouldn't,  if  I  were  you." 

"Why  not?" 

"  Well,  he's  very  vain,  as  you  perhaps  discovered. 
He  might  misunderstand." 

"  And  why  should  that  disturb  me  ? "  asked  she, 
tranquilly.  "  I  do  as  I  please.  I  don't  concern 
myself  about  what  others  think.  Your  friend  in 
terests  me.  I've  a  curiosity  to  see  whether  he  has 
improved  in  the  last  two  or  three  years  as  much  as  he 
says  he  has." 

"  He  told  you  all  about  himself?  " 

"  Everything  —  and  nothing." 

67 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"That's  just  it!"  exclaimed  Arkwright,  misunder 
standing  her.  "  After  he  has  talked  me  into  a  state 
of  collapse,  every  word  about  himself  and  his  career,  I 
think  it  all  over,  and  wonder  whether  there's  anything 
to  the  man  or  not.  Sometimes  I  think  there's  a  real 
person  beneath  that  flow  of  vanity.  Then,  again,  I 
think  not." 

"  Whether  he's  an  accident  or  a  plan."  mused  the 
young  woman;  but  she  saw  that  Arkwright  did  not 
appreciate  the  cleverness  and  the  penetration  of  her 
remark.  Indeed,  she  knew  in  advance  that  he  would 
not,  for  she  knew  his  limitations.  "  Now,"  thought 
she,  "  Craig  would  have  appreciated  it  —  and  clapped 
me  on  the  arm  —  or  knee." 

"  Did  you  like  Josh?  "  Grant  was  inquiring. 

"  Very  much,  indeed." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Arkwright  satirically. 

"  He  has  ability  to  do  things.  He  has  strength. 
...  He  isn't  like  us." 

Arkwright  winced.  "  I'm  afraid  you  exaggerate 
him,  merely  because  he's  different." 

"  He  makes  me  feel  an  added  contempt  for  myself, 
somehow.  Doesn't  he  you  ?  " 

"  I  can't  say  he  does,"  replied  Arkwright,  irritated. 
"  I  appreciate  his  good  qualities,  but  I  can't  help  being 

68 


"HE   ISN'T   LIKE    US" 


offended  and  disturbed  for  him  by  his  crudities.     He 
has  an  idea  that  to  be  polite  and  well-dressed  is  to  be  V. 
weak  and  worthless.     And  I  can't  get  it  out   of  his 
head." 

Margaret's  smile  irritated  him  still  further.  "  All 
great  men  are  more  or  less  rude  and  crude,  aren't  they?  " 
said  she.  "  They  are  impatient  of  the  trifles  we  lay 
so  much  stress  on." 

"  So,  you  think  Josh  is  a  great  man  ?  " 
"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Margaret,  with  exasperating 
deliberateness.     "  I  want  to  find  out." 

"  And  if  you  decide  that  he  is,  you'll  marry  him?  " 
"  Perhaps.     You  suggested  it  the  other  day." 
"  In    jest,"    said  Arkwright,    unaccountably    angry 
with  her,  with  himself,  with  Joshua.     "  As  soon  as  I 
saw  him  in  your  presence,  I  knew  it  wouldn't  do.     It'd 
be  giving  a  piece  of  rare,  delicate  porcelain  to  a  grizzly 
as  a  plaything." 

He  was  surprised  at  himself.  Now  that  he  was  face 
to  face  with  a  possibility  of  her  adopting  his  own 
proposition,  he  disliked  it  intensely.  He  looked  at  her; 
never  had  she  seemed  so  alluring,  so  representative  of 
what  he  called  distinction.  At  the  very  idea  of  such 
refinement  at  the  mercy  of  the  coarse  and  boisterous 
Craig,  his  blood  boiled.  "  Josh  is  a  fine,  splendid 

69 


chap,  as  a  man  among  men,"  said  he  to  himself.  "  But 
to  marry  this  dainty  aristocrat  to  him  —  it'd  be  a 
damned  disgraceful  outrage.  He's  not  fit  to  marry 
among  our  women.  .  .  .  What  a  pity  such  a  stun 
ning  girl  shouldn't  have  the  accessories  to  make  her  eligi 
ble."  And  he  hastily  turned  his  longing  eyes  away,  lest 
she  should  see  and  attach  too  much  importance  to  a  mere 
longing  —  for,  he  felt  it  would  be  a  pitiful  weakness, 
a  betrayal  of  opportunity,  for  him  to  marry,  in  a 
mood  of  passion  that  passes,  a  woman  who  was  merely 
well  born,  when  he  had  the  right  to  demand  both  birth 
and  wealth  in  his  wife. 

"  I've  often  thought,"  pursued  Margaret,  "  that  to 
be  loved  by  a  man  of  the  Craig  sort  would  be  —  in 
teresting." 

"  While  being  loved  by  one  of  your  own  sort  would 
be  dull?  "  suggested  Arkwright  with  a  strained  smile. 

Margaret  shrugged  her  bare  white  shoulders  in  an 
inflammatory  assent.  "  Will  you  go  with  me  to  the 
Supreme  Court  on  Tuesday?" 

"  Delighted,"  said  Arkwright.  And  he  did  not  real 
ize  that  the  deep-hidden  source  of  his  enthusiasm  was 
a  belief  that  Josh  Craig  would  make  an  ass  of  himself. 


70 


CHAPTER   V 

ALMOST    HOOKED 

In  human  affairs,  great  and  small,  there  are  always 
many  reasons  for  every  action;  then,  snugly  tucked 
away  underneath  all  these  reasons  that  might  be  and 
ought  to  be  and  pretend  to  be  but  aren't,  hides  the  real 
reason,  the  real  moving  cause  of  action.  By  tacit 
agreement  among  human  beings  there  is  an  unwritten 
law  against  the  exposing  of  this  real  reason,  whose 
naked  and  ugly  face  would  put  in  sorry  countenance 
professions  of  patriotism  or  philanthropy  or  altruism 
or  virtue  of  whatever  kind.  Stillwater,  the  Attorney- 
General  and  Craig's  chief,  had  a  dozen  reasons  for  let 
ting  him  appear  alone  for  the  Administration  —  that 
is,  for  the  people  —  in  that  important  case.  Each  of 
these  reasons  —  except  one  —  shed  a  pure,  white  light 
upon  Stillwater's  public  spirit  and  private  generosity. 
That  one  was  the  reason  supposed  by  Mrs.  Stillwater 
to  be  real.  "  Since  you  don't  seem  able  to  get  rid  of 
Josh  Craig,  Pa,"  said  she,  in  the  seclusion  of  the  marital 
couch,  "  we  might  as  well  marry  him  to  Jessie  " —  Jes 
sie  being  their  homeliest  daughter. 

71 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Very  well,"  said  "  Pa  "  Stillwater.  "  I'll  give  him 
a  chance." 

Still,  we  have  not  got  the  real  reason  for  Josh's 
getting  what  Stillwater  had  publicly  called  "  the  op 
portunity  of  a  lifetime."  The  really  real  reason  was 
that  Stillwater  wished,  and  calculated,  to  kill  a  whole 
flock  of  birds  with  one  stone. 

Whenever  the  people  begin  to  clamor  for  justice 
upon  their  exploiters,  the  politicians,  who  make  them 
selves  valuable  to  the  exploiters  by  cozening  the  people 
into  giving  them  office,  begin  by  denying  that  the  peo 
ple  want  anything ;  when  the  clamor  grows  so  loud  that 
this  pretense  is  no  longer  tenable,  they  hasten  to  say, 
"  The  people  are  right,  and  something  must  be  done. 
Unfortunately,  there  is  no  way  of  legally  doing  any 
thing  at  present,  and  we  must  be  patient  until  a  way 
is  discovered."  Way  after  way  is  suggested,  only  to 
be  dismissed  as  "  dangerous "  or  "  impractical "  or 
"  unconstitutional."  The  years  pass ;  the  clamor  per 
sists,  becomes  imperious.  The  politicians  pass  a  law 
that  has  been  carefully  made  unconstitutional.  This 
gives  the  exploiters  several  years  more  of  license.  Fi 
nally,  public  sentiment  compels  the  right  kind  of  law; 
it  is  passed.  Then  come  the  obstacles  to  enforcement. 
More  years  of  delay;  louder  clamor.  A  Stillwater  is 

72 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


put  in  charge  of  the  enforcement  of  the  law ;  a  case  is 
made,  a  trial  is  had,  and  the  evidence  is  so  incomplete 
or  the  people's  lawyers  so  poorly  matched  against  the 
lawyers  of  the  exploiters  that  the  case  fails,  and  the 
administration  is  able  to  say,  "  You  see,  we've  done  our 
best,  but  the  rascals  have  escaped !  "  The  case  against 
certain  Western  railway  thieves  had  reached  the  stage 
at  which  the  only  way  the  exploiters  could  be  protected 
from  justice  was  by  having  a  mock  trial;  and  Still- 
water  had  put  Craig  forward  as  the  conductor  of  this 
furious  sham  battle,  had  armed  him  with  a  poor  gun, 
loaded  with  blanks.  "  We'll  lose  the  case,"  calculated 
Stillwater ;  "  we'll  save  our  friends,  and  get  rid  of  Craig, 
whom  everybody  will  blame  —  the  damned,  bumptious, 
sophomoric  blow-hard !  " 

What  excuse  did  Stillwater  make  to  himself  for  him 
self  in  this  course  of  seeming  treachery  and  assassina 
tion?  For,  being  a  man  of  the  highest  principles,  he 
would  not  deliberately  plan  an  assassination  as  an  as 
sassination.  Why,  his  excuse  was  that  the  popular 
clamor  against  the  men  "  who  had  built  up  the  Western 
country  "  was  wicked,  that  he  was  serving  his  country 
in  denying  the  mob  "  the  blood  of  our  best  citizens," 
that  Josh  Craig  was  a  demagogue  who  richly  deserved 
to  be  hoist  by  his  own  petar.  He  laughed  with  pa- 

73 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

triotic  glee  as  he  thought  how  "  Josh,  the  joke  "  would 
make  a  fool  of  himself  with  silly,  sophomoric  argu 
ments,  would  with  his  rude  tactlessness  get  upon  the 
nerves  of  the  finicky  old  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court ! 

As  Craig  had  boasted  right  and  left  of  the  "  tear  " 
he  was  going  to  make,  and  had  urged  everybody  he 
talked  with  to  come  and  hear  him,  the  small  courtroom 
was  uncomfortably  full,  and  not  a  few  of  the  smiling, 
whispering  spectators  confidently  expected  that  they 
were  about  to  enjoy  that  rare,  delicious  treat  —  a  con 
ceited  braggart  publicly  exposed  and  overwhelmed  by 
himself.  Among  these  spectators  was  Josh's  best 
friend,  Arkwright,  seated  beside  Margaret  Severence, 
and  masking  his  satisfaction  over  the  impending  catas 
trophe  with  an  expression  of  funereal  somberness.  He 
could  not  quite  conceal  from  himself  all  these  hopes 
that  had  such  an  uncomfortable  aspect  of  ungenerous- 
ness.  So  he  reasoned  with  himself  that  they  really 
sprang  from  a  sincere  desire  for  his  friend's  ultimate 
good.  "  Josh  needs  to  have  his  comb  cut,"  thought  he. 
"  It's  sure  to  be  done,  and  he  can  bear  it  better  now 
than  later.  The  lesson  will  teach  him  a  few  things  he 
must  learn.  I  only  hope  he'll  be  able  to  profit  by  it." 

When  Josh  appeared,  Grant  and  the  others  with 
firmly-fixed  opinions  of  the  character  of  the  impending 

74 


ALMOST   HOOKED 


entertainment  were  not  a  little  disquieted.  Joshua 
Craig,  who  stepped  into  the  arena,  looked  absolutely 
different  from  the  Josh  they  knew.  How  had  he  di 
vested  himself  of  that  familiar  swaggering,  bustling 
braggadocio?  Where  had  he  got  this  look  of  the 
strong  man  about  to  run  a  race,  this  handsome  face 
on  which  sat  real  dignity  and  real  power?  Never  was 
there  a  better  court  manner;  the  Justices,  who  had  been 
anticipating  an  opportunity  to  demonstrate,  at  his  ex 
pense,  the  exceeding  dignity  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
could  only  admire  and  approve.  As  for  his  speech,  it 
was  a  straightway  argument;  not  a  superfluous  or  a 
sophomoric  word,  not  an  attempt  at  rhetoric.  His 
argument —  There  is  the  logic  that  is  potent  but 
answerable ;  there  is  the  logic  that  is  unanswerable,  that 
gives  no  opportunity  to  any  sane  mind,  however  preju 
diced  by  association  with  dispensers  of  luxurious  hos 
pitality,  of  vintage  wines  and  dollar  cigars,  however 
enamored  of  fog-fighting  and  hair-splitting,  to  refuse 
the  unqualified  assent  of  conviction  absolute.  That  was 
the  kind  of  argument  Josh  Craig  made.  And  the 
faces  of  the  opposing  lawyers,  the  questions  the  Jus 
tices  asked  him  plainly  showed  that  he  had  won. 

After  the  first  ten  minutes,  when  the  idea  that  Craig 
could  be  or  ever  had  been  laughable  became  itself  ab- 

75 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

surd,  Arkwright  glanced  uneasily,  jealously  at  Mar 
garet.  The  face  beneath  the  brim  of  her  beautiful 
white  and  pale  pink  hat  was  cold,  conventional,  was  the 
face  of  a  mere  listener.  Grant,  reassured,  resumed  his 
absorbed  attention,  was  soon  completely  swept  away  by 
his  friend's  exhibition  of  power,  could  hardly  wait  until 
he  and  Margaret  were  out  of  the  courtroom  before  ex 
ploding  in  enthusiasm.  "  Isn't  he  a  wonder? "  he 
cried.  "  Why,  I  shouldn't  have  believed  it  possible  for 
a  man  of  his  age  to  make  such  a  speech.  He's  a  great 
lawyer  as  well  as  a  great  orator.  It  was  a  dull  subject, 
yet  I  was  fascinated.  Weren't  you  ?  " 

"  It  was  interesting  —  at  times,"  said  Margaret. 

"At  times  J     Oh,  you  women!" 

At  this  scorn  Margaret  eyed  his  elegant  attire,  his 
face  with  its  expression  of  an  intelligence  concentrated 
upon  the  petty  and  the  paltry.  Her  eyes  suggested  a 
secret  amusement  so  genuine  that  she  could  not  venture 
to  reveal  it  in  a  gibe.  She  merely  said :  "  I  confess 
I  was  more  interested  in  him  than  in  what  he  said." 

"  Of  course !  Of  course ! "  said  Grant,  all  uncon 
scious  of  her  derision.  "  Women  have  no  interest  in 
serious  things  and  no  mind  for  logic." 

She  decided  that  it  not  only  was  prudent  but  also 
was  more  enjoyable  to  keep  to  herself  her  amusement 

76 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


at  his  airs  of  masculine  superiority.  Said  she,  her  man 
ner  ingenuous :  "  It  doesn't  strike  me  as  astonishing 
that  a  man  should  make  a  sensible  speech." 

Grant  laughed  as  if  she  had  said  something  much 
cleverer  than  she  could  possibly  realize.  "  That's  a 
fact,"  admitted  he.  "  It  was  simply  supreme  common- 
sense.  What  a  world  for  twaddle  it  is  when  common- 
sense  makes  us  sit  up  and  stare.  .  .  .  But  it's 
none  the  less  .true  that  you're  prejudiced  against  him." 

"  Why  do  you  say  that?  " 

"  If  you  appreciated  him  you'd  be  as  enthusiastic  as 
I."  There  was  in  his  tone  a  faint  hint  of  his  uncon 
scious  satisfaction  in  her  failure  to  appreciate  Craig. 

"  You  can  go  very  far  astray,"  said  she,  "  you,  with 
your  masculine  logic." 

But  Grant  had  guessed  aright.  Margaret  had  not 
listened  attentively  to  the  speech  because  it  interested 
her  less  than  the  man  himself.  She  had  concentrated 
wholly  upon  him.  Thus,  alone  of  all  the  audience,  she 
had  seen  that  Craig  was  playing  a  carefully-rehearsed 
part,  and,  himself  quite  unmoved,  was  watching  and 
profiting  by  every  hint  in  the  countenance  of  his  audi 
ence,  the  old  Justices.  It  was  an  admirable  piece  of 
acting;  it  was  the  performance  of  a  genius  at  the  mum 
mer's  art.  But  the  power  of  the  mummer  lies  in  the 

77 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

illusion  he  creates;  if  he  does  not  create  illusion,  as 
Craig  did  not  for  Margaret,  he  becomes  mere  panto- 
mimist  and  mouther.  She  had  never  given  a  moment's 
thought  to  public  life  as  a  career;  she  made  no  allow 
ances  for  the  fact  that  a  man's  public  appearances,  no 
matter  how  sincere  he  is,  must  always  be  carefully  re 
hearsed  if  he  is  to  use  his  powers  with  unerring  effect ; 
she  was  simply  like  a  child  for  the  first  time  at  the 
theater,  and,  chancing  to  get  a  glimpse  behind  the 
scenes,  disgusted  and  angry  with  the  players  because 
their  performance  is  not  spontaneous.  If  she  had 
stopped  to  reason  about  the  matter  she  would  have  been 
less  uncompromising.  But  in  the  shock  of  disillusion 
ment  she  felt  only  that  the  man  was  working  upon  his 
audience  like  a  sleight-of-hand  performer;  and  the 
longer  she  observed,  and  the  stronger  his  spell  over  the 
others,  the  deeper  became  her  contempt  for  the  "  charla 
tan."  He  seemed  to  her  like  one  telling  a  lie  —  as  that 
one  seems,  while  telling  it,  to  the  hearer  who  is  not  de 
ceived.  "  I've  been  thinking  him  rough  but  genuine," 
said  she  to  herself.  "  He's  merely  rough."  She  had 
forgiven,  had  disregarded  his  rude  almost  coarse  man 
ners,  setting  them  down  to  indifference,  the  impatience 
of  the  large  with  the  little,  a  revolt  from  the  (on  the 
whole  preferable)  extreme  opposite  of  the  mincing, 

78 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


patterned  manners  of  which  Margaret  herself  was 
aweary.  "  But  he  isn't  indifferent  at  all,"  she  now  felt. 
"  He's  simply  posing.  His  rudenesses  are  deliberate 
where  they  are  not  sheer  ignorance.  His  manner  in 
court  showed  that  he  knows  how,  in  the  main." 

A  rather  superior  specimen  of  the  professional  poli 
tician,  but  distinctly  of  that  hypocritical,  slippery  class. 
And  Margaret's  conviction  was  strengthened  later  in 
the  day  when  she  came  upon  him  at  tea  at  Mrs.  Hough- 
ton's.  He  was  holding  forth  noisily  against  "  society," 
was  denouncing  it  as  a  debaucher  of  manhood  and 
womanhood,  a  waster  of  precious  time,  and  on  and  on 
in  that  trite  and  tedious  strain.  Margaret's  lip  curled 
as  she  listened.  What  did  this  fakir  know  about  man 
hood  and  womanhood?  And  could  there  be  any  more 
pitiful,  more  paltry  wasting  of  time  than  in  studying 
out  and  performing  such  insincerities  as  his  life  was 
made  up  of?  True,  Mrs.  Houghton,  of  those  funny, 
fashionable  New  Yorkers  who  act  as  if  they  had  only 
just  arrived  at  the  estate  of  servants  and  carriages,  and 
are  always  trying  to  impress  even  passing  strangers 
with  their  money  and  their  grandeur  —  true,  Mrs. 
Houghton  was  most  provocative  to  anger  or  amused 
disdain  at  the  fashionable  life.  But  not  even  Mrs. 
Houghton  seemed  to  Margaret  so  cheap  and  pitiful  as 

79 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

this  badly-dressed,  mussy  politician,  as  much  an  actor 
as  Mrs.  Houghton  and  as  poor  at  the  trade,  but  choos 
ing  low  comedy  for  his  unworthy  attempts  where 
Mrs.  Houghton  was  at  least  trying  to  be  something 
refined. 

With  that  instinct  for  hostility  which  is  part  of  the 
equipment  of  every  sensitively-nerved  man  of  action, 
Craig  soon  turned  toward  her,  addressed  himself  to  her ; 
and  the  others,  glad  to  be  free,  fell  away.  Margaret 
was  looking  her  best.  White  was  extremely  becoming 
to  her ;  pink  —  pale  pink  —  being  next  in  order.  Her 
dress  was  of  white,  with  facings  of  delicate  pale  pink,  and 
the  white  plumes  in  her  hat  were  based  in  pale  pink,  which 
also  lined  the  inside  of  the  brim.  She  watched  him, 
and,  now  that  it  was  once  more  his  personality  pitted 
directly  and  wholly  against  hers,  she,  in  spite  of  herself, 
began  to  yield  to  him  again  her  respect  —  the  respect 
every  intelligent  person  must  feel  for  an  individuality 
that  is  erect  and  strong.  But  as  she  was  watching,  her 
expression  was  that  of  simply  listening,  without  com 
ment  or  intention  to  reply  —  an  expression  of  which  she 
was  perfect  mistress.  Her  hazel  eyes,  set  in  dark  lashes, 
her  sensuous  mouth,  her  pallid  skin,  smooth  and  healthy, 
seemed  the  climax  of  allurement  to  which  all  the  lines 
of  her  delightful  figure  pointed.  To  another  woman 

80 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


it  would  have  been  obvious  that  she  was  amusing  her 
self  by  trying  to  draw  him  under  the  spell  of  physical 
attraction;  a  man  would  have  thought  her  a  mere  pas 
sive  listener,  perhaps  one  concealing  boredom,  would 
have  thought  her  movements  to  bring  now  this  charm 
and  now  that  to  his  attention  were  simply  movements 
of  restlessness,  indications  of  an  impatience  difficult  to 
control.  He  broke  off  abruptly.  "  What  are  you 
thinking  ?  "  he  demanded. 

She  gave  no  sign  of  triumph  at  having  accomplished 
her  purpose  —  at  having  forced  his  thoughts  to  leave 
his  pet  subject,  himself,  and  center  upon  her.  "  I  was 
thinking,"  said  she  reflectively,  "  what  a  brave  whistler 
you  are." 

"Whistler?" 

"  Whistling  to  keep  up  your  courage.  No,  rather, 
whistling  for  courage.  You  are  on  your  knees  be 
fore  wealth  and  social  position,  and  you  wish  to 
convince  yourself  —  and  the  world  —  that  you  despise 
them." 

"  I?  Wealth  ?  Social  position  ?  "  Craig  exclaimed, 
or  rather,  blustered.  And,  red  and  confused,  he  was  at 
a  loss  for  words. 

"  Yes  —  you,"  asserted  she,  in  her  quiet,  tranquil 
way.  "  Don't  bluster  at  me.  You  didn't  bluster  at 

81 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

the  Court  this  morning."  She  laughed  softly,  eyeing 
him  with  friendly  sarcasm.  "  You  see,  I'm  'on  to ' 
you,  Mr.  Craig." 

Their  eyes  met  —  a  resolute  encounter.  He  frowned 
fiercely,  and  as  his  eyes  were  keen  and  blue-green,  and, 
backed  by  a  tremendous  will,  the  odds  seemed  in  his 
favor.  But  soon  his  frown  relaxed;  a  smile  replaced  it 
—  a  handsome  acknowledgment  of  defeat,  a  humorous 
confession  that  she  was  indeed  "  on  to  "  him.  "  I  like 
you,"  he  said  graciously. 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  can  say  the  same  of  you,"  re 
plied  she,  no  answering  smile  in  her  eyes  or  upon  her 
lips,  but  a  seriousness  far  more  flattering. 

"  That's  right !  "  exclaimed  he.  "  Frankness  —  ab 
solute  frankness.  You  are  the  only  intelligent  woman 
I  have  met  here  who  seems  to  have  any  sweetness  left 
in  her." 

"  Sweetness?  This  is  a  strange  place  to  look  for 
sweetness.  One  might  as  well  expect  to  find  it  in  a 
crowd  of  boys  scrapping  for  pennies,  or  in  a  pack  of 
hounds  chasing  a  fox." 

"  But  that  isn't  all  of  life,"  protested  Craig. 

"  It's  all  of  life  among  our  sort  of  people  —  the  am 
bitious  socially  and  otherwise." 

Josh  beamed  upon  her  admiringly.  "  You'll  do," 

82 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


approved  he.     "  We  shall  be  friends.     We  are  friends." 

The  gently  satiric  smile  her  face  had  borne  as  she  was 
talking  became  personal  to  him.  "  You  are  confident," 
said  she. 

He  nodded  emphatically.  "  I  am.  I  always  get 
what  I  want." 

"  I'm  sorry  to  say  I  don't.  But  I  can  say  that  at 
least  I  never  take  what  I  don't  want." 

"  That  means,"  said  he,  "  you  may  not  want  my 
friendship." 

"  Obviously,"  replied  she.  And  she  rose  and  put 
out  her  hand. 

"  Don't  go  yet,"  cried  he.  "  We  are  just  begin 
ning  to  get  acquainted.  The  other  day  I  misjudged 
you.  I  thought  you  insignificant,  not  worth  while." 

She  slid  her  hand  into  her  ermine  muff.  She  gave 
him  an  icy  look,  not  contemptuous  but  oblivious,  and 
turned  away.  He  stared  after  her.  "  By  Jove ! " 
thought  he,  "  there's  the  real  thing.  There's  a  true 
aristocrat."  And  he  frankly  paid  aristocracy  in 
thought  the  tribute  he  would  with  any  amount  of  fum 
ing  and  spluttering  have  denied  it  in  word.  "  Aris 
tocracy  does  mean  something,"  reflected  he.  "  There 
must  be  substance  to  what  can  make  me  feel  quite  put 
down." 

83 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

When  he  saw  Arkwright  he  said  patronizingly :  "  I 
like  that  little  friend  of  yours  —  that  Miss  What's-her- 
name." 

Grant  suspected  from  his  tone  that  this  forgetfulness 
was  an  affectation.  "  You  know  very  well  what  her 
name  is,"  said  he  irritably.  "  What  a  cheap  affecta 
tion." 

Josh  countered  and  returned  magnificently :  "  I  re 
member  her  face  perfectly,"  said  he.  "  One  shares 
one's  name  with  a  great  many  people,  so  it's  unim 
portant.  But  one's  face  is  one's  own.  I  remember 
her  face  very  well  indeed  —  and  that  gorgeous  figure 
of  hers." 

Grant  was  furious,  thought  Craig's  words  the  limit 
of  impertinent  f  ree-spokenness.  "  Well,  what  of  it  ?  " 
said  he  savagely. 

"  I  like  her,"  replied  Josh  condescendingly.  "  But 
she's  been  badly  brought  up,  and  is  full  of  foolish  ideas, 
like  all  your  women  here.  But  she's  a  thoroughbred." 

"  Then  you  like  her?  "  observed  Arkwright  without 
enthusiasm. 

"  So-so.  Of  course,  she  isn't  fit  to  be  a  wife,  but  for 
her  type  and  as  a  type  she's  splendid." 

Arkwright  felt  like  kicking  him  and  showed  it. 
"  What  a  bounder  you  are  at  times,  Josh,"  he  snapped. 

84 


ALMOST   HOOKED 


Craig  laughed  and  slapped  him  on  the  back.  "  There 
you  go  again,  with  your  absurd  notions  of  delicacy. 
Believe  me,  Grant,  you  don't  understand  women.  They 
don't  like  you  delicate  fellows.  They  like  a  man  —  like 
me  —  a  pawer  of  the  ground  —  a  snorter  —  a  war- 
horse  that  cries  ha-ha  among  the  trumpets." 

"  The  worst  thing  about  what  you  say,"  replied  Ark- 
wright  sourly,  "  is  that  it's  the  truth.  I  don't  say  the 
women  aren't  worthy  of  us,  but  I  do  say  they're  not 
worthy  of  our  opinion  of  them.  .  .  .  Well,  I  sup 
pose  you're  going  to  try  to  marry  her  " —  this  with  a 
vicious  gleam  which  he  felt  safe  in  indulging  openly 
before  one  so  self-absorbed  and  so  insensible  to  subtle 
ties  of  feeling  and  manner. 

"  I  think  not,"  said  Craig  judicially.  "  She'd  play 
hell  with  my  politics.  It's  bad  enough  to  have  fights 
on  every  hand  and  all  the  time  abroad.  It'd  be  intol 
erable  to  have  one  at  home  —  and  I've  got  no  time  to 
train  her  to  my  uses  and  purposes." 

Usually  Craig's  placid  conviction  that  the  universe 
existed  for  his  special  benefit  and  that  anything  therein 
was  his  for  the  mere  formality  of  claiming  it  moved 
Arkwright  to  tolerant  amusement  at  his  lack  of  the 
sense  of  proportion  and  humor.  Occasionally  it  moved 
him  to  reluctant  admiration  —  this  when  some  appar- 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

ently  absurd  claim  of  his  proved  more  or  less  valid. 
Just  now,  in  the  matter  of  Margaret  Severence,  this 
universal  overlordship  filled  him  with  rage,  the  more 
furious  that  he  realized  he  'could  no  more  shake  Josh's 
conviction  than  he  could  make  the  Washington  monu 
ment  topple  over  into  the  Potomac  by  saying,  "  Be  thou 
removed."  He  might  explain  all  the  obvious  reasons 
why  Margaret  would  never  deign  to  condescend  to  him ; 
Josh  would  dismiss  them  with  a  laugh  at  Arkwright's 
folly. 

He  hid  his  rage  as  best  he  could,  and  said  with  some 
semblance  of  genial  sarcasm :  "  So  all  you've  got  to 
do  is  to  ask  her  and  she's  yours  ?  " 

Craig  gave  him  a  long,  sharp,  searching  look.  "  Old 
man,"  he  said  earnestly,  "  do  you  want  her?  " 

"  I!  "  exclaimed  Arkwright  angrily,  but  with  shift 
ing  eyes  and  with  upper  lip  twitching  guiltily.  Then, 
satirically :  "  Oh,  no ;  I'd  not  dare  aspire  to  any  woman 
you  had  condescended  to  smile  upon." 

"  If  you  do  I'll  get  her  for  you,"  pursued  Craig,  his 
hand  seeking  Arkwright's  arm  to  grip  it. 

Arkwright  drew  away,  laughed  outright.  "  You  are 
a  joke!"  he  cried,  wholly  cured  of  his  temper  by  the 
preposterous  offer.  It  would  be  absurd  enough  for 
any  one  to  imagine  he  would  need  help  in  courting  any 

86 


ALMOST   HOOKED 


woman  he  might  fancy  —  he,  one  of  the  most  eligible  of 
American  bachelors.  It  passed  the  uttermost  bounds  of 
the  absurd,  this  notion  that  he  would  need  help  with 
a  comparatively  poor  girl,  many  seasons  out  and  eager 
to  marry.  And  then,  climax  of  climaxes,  that  Josh 
Craig  could  help  him!  "  Yes,  a  joke,"  he  repeated. 

"  Oh,  no  doubt  I  do  seem  so  to  you,"  replied  Josh 
unruffled.  "  People  are  either  awed  or  amused  by  what 
they're  incapable  of  understanding.  At  this  stage  of 
my  career  I'm  not  surprised  to  find  they're  amused. 
But  wait,  my  boy.  Meanwhile,  if  you  want  that  lady, 
all  you've  got  to  do  is  to  say  the  word.  I'll  get  her  for 
you." 

"  Thanks ;  no,"  said  Arkwright.  "  I'm  rather  shy 
of  matrimony.  I  don't  hanker  after  the  stupid  joys 
of  family  life,  as  you  do." 

"  That's  because  of  your  ruinous,  rotten  training," 
Craig  assured  him.  "  It  has  destroyed  your  power  to 
appreciate  the  great  fundamentals  of  life.  You  think 
you're  superior.  If  you  only  knew  how  shallow  you 
are!" 

"  I've  a  competent  valet,"  said  Arkwright.  "  And 
your  idea  of  a  wife  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  sublimated 
valet  —  and  nurse." 

"  I  can  conceive  of  no  greater  dignity  than  to  take 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

care  of  a  real  man  and  his  children,"  replied  Craig. 
"  However,  the  dignity  of  the  service  depends  upon  the 
dignity  of  the  person  to  whom  it  is  rendered  —  and 
upon  the  dignity  of  the  person  who  renders  it." 

Arkwright  examined  Craig's  face  for  signs  that  this 
was  the  biting  sarcasm  it  would  have  seemed,  coming 
from  another.  But  Craig  was  apparently  merely  mak 
ing  one  of  his  familiar  bumptious  speeches.  The  idea 
of  a  man  of  his  humble  origin  proclaiming  himself 
superior  to  an  Arkwright  of  the  Massachusetts  Ark- 
wrights ! 

"  No,  I'd  not  marry  your  Miss  Severence,"  Craig 
continued.  "  I  want  a  wife,  not  a  social  ornament.  I 
want  a  woman,  not  a  toilette.  I  want  a  home,  not  a 
fashionable  hotel.  I  want  love  and  sympathy  and  chil 
dren.  I  want  substance,  not  shadow;  sanity,  not  silli 
ness." 

"  And  your  socks  darned  and  your  shirts  mended." 

"  That,  of  course."  Josh  accepted  these  amend 
ments  with  serene  seriousness.  "  And  Miss  Severence 
isn't  fit  for  the  job.  She  has  some  brains  —  the  woman 
kind  of  brains.  She  has  a  great  deal  of  rudimentary 
character.  If  I  had  the  time,  and  it  were  worth  while, 
I  could  develop  her  into  a  real  woman.  But  I  haven't, 
and  it  wouldn't  be  worth  while  when  there  are  so  many 

88 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


real  women,  ready  made,  out  where  I  come  from.  This 
girl  would  be  exactly  the  wife  for  you,  though.  Just 
as  she  is,  she'd  help  you  mince  about  from  parlor  to 
parlor,  and  smirk  and  jabber  and  waste  time.  She's 
been  educating  for  the  job  ever  since  she  was  born.'* 
He  laid  his  hand  in  gracious,  kindly  fashion  on  his 
friend's  shoulder.  "  Think  it  over.  And  if  you  want 
my  help  it's  yours.  I  can  show  her  what  a  fine  fellow 
you  are,  what  a  good  husband  you'd  make.  For  you 
are  a  fine  person,  old  man;  when  you  were  born  fash 
ionable  and  rich  it  spoiled  a  — " 

"  A  superb  pram-trundler,"  suggested  Arkwright. 

"  Precisely.  Be  off  now ;  I  must  work.  Be  off,  and 
exhibit  that  wonderful  suit  and  those  spotless  white 
spats  where  they'll  be  appreciated."  And  he  dismissed 
the  elegantly-dressed  idler  as  a  king  might  rid  himself 
of  a  favorite  who  threatened  to  presume  upon  his  mas 
ter's  good  humor  and  outstay  his  welcome.  But  Ark 
wright  didn't  greatly  mind.  He  was  used  to  Josh's 
airs.  Also,  though  he  would  not  have  confessed  it  to 
his  inmost  self,  Josh's  preposterous  assumptions,  by 
sheer  force  of  frequent  and  energetic  reiteration,  had 
made  upon  him  an  impression  of  possible  validity  — 
not  probable,  but  possible;  and  the  possible  was  quite 
enough  to  stir  deep  down  in  Arkwright's  soul  the  all 

89 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

but  universal  deference  before  power.  It  never  oc 
curred  to  him  to  suspect  there  might  be  design  in  Craig's 
sweeping  assertions  and  assumptions  of  superiority,  that 
he  might  be  shrewdly  calculating  that,  underneath  the 
ridicule  those  obstreperous  vanities  would  create,  there 
would  gradually  form  and  steadily  grow  a  conviction 
of  solid  truth,  a  conviction  that  Joshua  Craig  was  in 
deed  the  personage  he  professed  to  be  —  mighty,  in 
evitably  prevailing,  Napoleonic. 

This  latent  feeling  of  Arkwright's  was,  however,  not 
strong  enough  to  suppress  his  irritation  when,  a  few 
days  later,  he  went  to  the  Severences  for  tea,  and  found 
Margaret  and  Josh  alone  in  the  garden,  walking  up  and 
down,  engaged  in  a  conversation  that  was  obviously 
intimate  and  absorbing.  When  he  appeared  on  the 
veranda  Joshua  greeted  him  with  an  eloquent  smile  of 
loving  friendship. 

"  Ah,  there  you  are  now !  "  he  cried.  "  Well,  little 
ones,  I'll  leave  you  together.  I've  wasted  as  much  time 
as  I  can  spare  to-day  to  frivolity." 

"  Yes,  hurry  back  to  work,"  said  Arkwright.  "  The 
ship  of  state's  wobbling  badly  through  your  neg 
lect." 

Craig  laughed,  looking  at  Margaret.  "  Grant  thinks 
that's  a  jest,"  said  he.  "  Instead,  it's  the  sober  truth. 

90 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


I  am  engaged  in  keeping  my  Chief  in  order,  and  in 
preventing  the  President  from  skulking  from  the  poli 
cies  he  has  the  shrewdness  to  advocate  but  lacks  the 
nerve  to  put  into  action." 

Margaret  stood  looking  after  him  as  he  strode 
away. 

"  You  mustn't  mind  his  insane  vanity,"  said  Ark- 
wright,  vaguely  uneasy  at  the  expression  of  her  hazel 
eyes,  at  once  so  dark,  mysterious,  melancholy,  so  light 
and  frank  and  amused. 

"  I  don't,"  said  she  in  a  tone  that  seemed  to  mean 
a  great  deal. 

He,  still  more  uneasy,  went  on :  "A  little  more  ex 
perience  of  the  world  and  Josh'll  come  round  all  right 
—  get  a  sense  of  proportion." 

"But  isn't  it  true?"  asked  Margaret  somewhat  ab 
sently. 

"What?" 

"  Why,  what  he  said  as  he  was  leaving.  Before  you 
came  he'd  been  here  quite  a  while,  and  most  of  the  time 
he  talked  of  himself — " 

Arkwright  laughed,  but  Margaret  only  smiled,  and 
that  rather  reluctantly. 

"  And  he  was  telling  how  hard  a  time  he  was  having ; 
what  with  Stillwater's  corruption  and  the  President's 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

timidity  about  really  acting  against  rich  people  — 
something  about  criminal  suits  against  what  he  calls 
the  big  thieves  —  I  didn't  understand  it,  or  care  much 
about  it,  but  it  gave  me  an  impression  of  Mr.  Craig's 
power." 

"  There  is  some  truth  in  what  he  says,"  Arkwright 
admitted,  with  a  reluctance  of  which  his  pride,  and  his 
heart  as  well,  were  ashamed.  "  He's  become  a  burr,  a 
thorn,  in  the  Administration,  and  they're  really  afraid 
of  him  in  a  way  —  though,  of  course,  they  have  to  laugh 
at  him  as  every  one  else  does." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Margaret  absently. 

Arkwright  watched  her  nervously.  "  You  seem  to  be 
getting  round  to  the  state  of  mind,"  said  he,  "  where 
you'll  be  in  danger  of  marrying  our  friend  Craig." 

Margaret,  her  eyes  carefully  away  from  him,  laughed 
softly  —  a  disturbingly  noncommittal  laugh. 

"  Of  course,  I'm  only  joking,"  continued  Arkwright. 
**  I  know  you  couldn't  marry  him." 

"Why  not?" 

"  Because  you  don't  think  he's  sincere." 

Her  silence  made  him  feel  that  she  thought  this  as 
•weak  as  he  did. 

"  Because  you  don't  love  him." 

"  No,  I  certainly  don't  love  him,"  said  Margaret. 

92 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


"  Because  you  don't  even  like  him." 

"  What  a  strange  way  of  advocating  your  friend  you 
have." 

Arkwright  flushed  scarlet.  "  I  thought  you'd  quite 
dismissed  him  as  a  possibility,"  he  stammered. 

"  With  a  woman  every  man's  a  possibility  so  long  as 
no  man's  a  certainty." 

"  Margaret,  you  couldn't  marry  a  man  you  didn't 
like?" 

She  seemed  to  reflect.  "  Not  if  I  were  in  love  with 
another  at  the  time,"  she  said  finally.  "  That's  as  far 
as  my  womanly  delicacy  —  what's  left  of  it  after  my 
years  in  society  —  can  influence  me.  And  it's  strong 
er,  I  believe,  than  the  delicacy  of  most  women  of  our 
sort." 

They  were  sitting  now  on  the  bench  round  the  circle 
where  the  fountain  was  tossing  high  its  jets  in  play  with 
the  sunshine.  She  was  looking  very  much  the  woman  of 
the  fashionable  world,  and  the  soft  grays,  shading  into 
blues,  that  dominated  her  costume  gave  her  an  exceed 
ing  and  entrancing  seeming  of  fragility.  Arkwright 
thought  her  eyes  wonderful ;  the  sweet,  powerful  yet 
delicate  odor  of  the  lilac  sachet  powder  with  which  her 
every  garment  was  saturated  set  upon  his  senses  like  a. 
love-philter. 

93 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Yes,  you  are  finer  and  nobler  than  most  women,"  he 
said  giddily.  "  And  that's  why  it  distresses  me  to  hear 
you  talk  even  in  jest,  as  if  you  could  marry  Josh." 

"  And  a  few  weeks  ago  you  were  suggesting  him  as 
just  the  husband  for  me." 

Arkwright  was  silent.  How  could  he  go  on?  How 
tell  her  why  he  had  changed  without  committing  him 
self  to  her  by  a  proposal  ?  She  was  fascinating  — 
would  be  an  ideal  wife.  With  what  style  and  taste 
she'd  entertain  —  how  she'd  shine  at  the  head  of  his 
table!  What  a  satisfaction  it  would  be  to  feel  that  his 
money  was  being  so  competently  spent.  But  —  well, 
he  did  not  wish  to  marry,  not  just  yet ;  perhaps,  some 
where  in  the  world,  he  would  find,  in  the  next  few  years, 
a  woman  even  better  suited  to  him  than  Margaret. 
Marrying  was  a  serious  business.  True,  now  that  di 
vorce  had  pushed  its  way  up  and  had  become  recog 
nized  by  fashionable  society,  had  become  an  established 
social  favorite,  marriage  had  been  robbed  of  one  of  its 
terrors.  But  the  other  remained  —  divorce  still  meant 
alimony.  The  woman  who  trapped  an  eligible  never 
endangered  her  hard-earned  position ;  a  man  must  be 
extremely  careful  or  he  would  find  himself  forced  to 
hard  choice  between  keeping  on  with  a  woman  he  wished 
to  be  rid  of  and  paying  out  a  large  part  of  his  income 

94 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


in  alimony.  It  seemed  far-fetched  to  think  of  these 
.things  in  connection  with  such  a  woman  as  Margaret. 
He  certainly  never  could  grow  tired  of  her,  and  her 
looks  were  of  the  sort  that  had  staying  power.  Nor 
was  she  in  the  least  likely  to  be  so  ungrateful  as  to  wish 
to  be  rid  of  him  and  hold  him  up  for  alimony.  Still 
—  wouldn't  it  have  been  seemingly  just  as  absurd  to 
consider  in  advance  such  sordid  matters  in  connection 
with  any  one  of  a  dozen  couples  among  his  friends  whose 
matrimonial  enterprises  had  gone  smash?  It  was  said 
that  nowadays  girls  went  to  the  altar  thinking  that  if 
the  husbands  they  were  taking  proved  unsatisfactory 
they  would  soon  be  free  again,  the  better  off  by  the 
title  of  Mrs.  and  a  good  stiff  alimony  and  some  inval 
uable  experience.  "  I  must  keep  my  head,"  thought  he. 
"  I  must  consider  how  I'd  feel  after  the  fatal  cards  were 
out." 

"  Yes,  you  were  quite  eager  for  me  to  marry  him," 
persisted  she.  She  was  watching  his  face  out  of  the 
corner  of  her  eye. 

"  I  admit  it,"  said  he  huskily.  "  But  we've  both 
changed  since  then." 

"  Changed?  "  said  she,  perhaps  a  shade  too  encour 
agingly. 

He  felt  the  hook  tickling  his  gills  and  darted  off 

95 


'ADVENTURES    OF   JOSHUA    CRAIG 

warily.  "  Changed  toward  him,  I  mean.  Changed  in 
our  estimate  of  his  availability  as  a  husband  for  you." 
He  rose;  the  situation  was  becoming  highly  perilous. 
**  I  must  speak  to  your  mother  and  fly.  I'm  late  for  an 
appointment  now." 

As  he  drove  away  ten  minutes  later  he  drew  a  long 
breath.  "Gad!"  said  he  half  aloud,  "  Rita'll  never 
realize  how  close  I  was  to  proposing  to-day.  She  almost 
had  me.  .  .  .  Though  why  I  should  think  of  it 
that  way  I  don't  know.  It's  damned  low  and  indelicate 
of  me.  She  ought  to  be  my  wife.  I  love  her  as  much 
as  a  man  of  experience  can  love  a  woman  in  advance  of 
trying  her  out  thoroughly.  If  she  had  money  I'd  not 
be  hesitating,  I'm  afraid.  Then,  too,  I  don't  think  the 
moral  tone  of  that  set  she  and  I  travel  with  is  what  it 
ought  to  be.  It's  all  very  well  for  me,  but —  Well, 
a  man  ought  to  be  ready  for  almost  anything  that 
might  happen  if  his  wife  went  with  that  crowd  —  or 
had  gone  with  it  before  he  married  her.  Not  that  I 
suspect  Margaret,  though  I  must  say  —  What  a  pup 
this  sort  of  life  does  make  of  a  man  in  some  ways! 
•  .  .  Yes,  I  almost  leaped.  She'll  never  know  how 
near  I  came  to  it.  ...  Perhaps  Josh's  more  than 
half-right  and  I'm  oversophisticated.  My  doubts  and 
delays  may  cost  me  a  kind  of  happiness  I'd  rather  have 

96 


ALMOST  HOOKED 


than  anything  on  earth  —  if  it  really  exists."  There 
he  laughed  comfortably.  "  Poor  Rita !  If  she  only 
knew,  how  cut  up  she'd  be ! " 

He  might  not  have  been  so  absolutely  certain  of  her 
ignorance  could  he  have  looked  into  the  Severences' 
drawing-room  just  then.  For  Margaret,  after  a  burst 
of  hysterical  gayety,  had  gone  to  the  far  end  of  the 
room  on  the  pretext  of  arranging  some  flowers.  And 
there,  with  her  face  securely  hid  from  the  half-dozen 
round  the  distant  tea-table,  she  was  choking  back  the 
sobs,  was  muttering :  "  I'll  have  to  do  it !  I'm  a  des 
perate  woman  —  desperate !  " 


97 


CHAPTER  VI 

MR.    CRAIG   IN   SWEET    DANGER 

It  is  a  rash  enterprise  to  open  wide  to  the  world  the 
private  doors  of  the  family,  to  expose  intimate  interiors 
all  unconscious  of  outside  observation,  and  all  unpre 
pared  for  it.  Such  frankness  tends  to  destroy  "  sym 
pathetic  interest,"  to  make  delusion  and  illusion  im 
possible;  it  gives  cynicism  and  his  brother,  pharisaism, 
their  opportunity  to  simper  and  to  sneer.  Still  rasher 
is  it  to  fling  wide  the  doors  of  a  human  heart,  and,  with 
out  any  clever  arrangement  of  lights  and  shades,  reveal 
in  the  full  face  of  the  sun  exactly  what  goes  on  there. 
We  lie  to  others  unconsciously ;  we  lie  to  ourselves  both 
consciously  and  unconsciously.  We  admit  and  entertain 
dark  thoughts,  and  at  the  first  alarm  of  exposure  deny 
that  we  ever  saw  them  before ;  we  cover  up  our  motives, 
forget  where  we  have  hidden  them,  and  wax  justly  in 
dignant  when  they  are  dug  out  and  confronted  with 
us.  We  are  scandalized,  quite  honestly,  when  others 
are  caught  doing  what  we  ourselves  have  done.  We  are 

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MR.    CRAIG   IN   SWEET   DANGER 

horrified  and  cry  "  Monster ! "  when  others  do  what  we 
ourselves  refrain  from  doing  only  through  lack  of  the 
bad  courage. 

No  man  is  a  hero  who  is  not  a  hero  to  his  valet ;  and 
no  woman  a  lady  unless  her  maid  thinks  so.  Mar 
garet  Severence's  new  maid  Selina  was  engaged  to  be 
married;  the  lover  had  gone  on  a  spree,  had  started  a 
free  fight  in  the  streets,  and  had  got  himself  into  jail 
for  a  fortnight.  It  was  the  first  week  of  his  imprison 
ment,  and  Selina  had  committed  a  series  of  faults  intol 
erable  in  a  maid.  She  sent  Margaret  to  a  ball  with  a 
long  tear  in  her  skirt;  she  let  her  go  out,  open  in  the 
back,  both  in  blouse  and  in  placket;  she  upset  a  cup 
of  hot  cafe  au  lait  on  her  arm ;  finally  she  tore  a  strap 
off  a  shoe  as  she  was  fastening  it  on  Margaret's  foot. 
Though  no  one  has  been  able  to  fathom  it,  there  must 
be  a  reason  for  the  perversity  whereby  our  outbursts 
of  anger  against  any  seriously-offending  fellow-being 
always  break  on  some  trivial  offense,  never  on  one  of 
the  real  and  deep  causes  of  wrath.  Margaret,  though 
ignorant  of  her  maid's  secret  grief  and  shame,  had  borne 
patiently  the  sins  of  omission  and  commission,  only  a 
few  of  which  are  catalogued  above;  this,  though  the 
maid,  absorbed  in  her  woe,  had  not  even  apologized 
for  a  single  one  of  them.  On  the  seventh  day  of  dis- 

99 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

comforts  and  disasters  Margaret  lost  her  temper  at  the 
triviality  of  the  ripping  off  of  the  shoe-strap,  and 
poured  out  upon  Selina  not  only  all  her  resentment 
against  her  but  also  all  that  she  had  been  storing  up 
since  the  beginning  of  the  season  against  life  and  des 
tiny.  Selina  sat  on  the  floor  stupefied;  Margaret,  a 
very  incarnation  of  fury,  raged  up  and  down  the  room, 
venting  every  and  any  insult  a  naturally  caustic  wit 
suggested.  "  And,"  she  wound  up,  "  I  want  you  to 
clear  out  at  once.  I'll  send  you  your  month's  wages. 
I  can't  give  you  a  character  —  except  for  honesty.  I'll 
admit,  you  are  too  stupid  to  steal.  Clear  out,  and  never 
let  me  see  you  again." 

She  swept  from  the  room,  drove  away  to  lunch  at 
Mrs.  Baker's.  She  acted  much  as  usual,  seemed  to  be 
enjoying  herself,  for  the  luncheon  was  very  good  in 
deed,  Mrs.  Baker's  chef  being  new  from  France  and  not 
yet  grown  careless,  and  the  company  was  amusing.  At 
the  third  course  she  rose.  "  I've  forgotten  something," 
said  she.  "  I  must  go  at  once.  No,  no  one  must  be 
disturbed  on  my  account.  I'll  drive  straight  home." 
And  she  was  gone  before  Mrs.  Baker  could  rise  from 
her  chair. 

At  home  Margaret  went  up  to  her  own  room,  through 
her  bedroom  to  Selina's  —  almost  as  large  and  quite  as 

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MR.    CRAIG   IN   SWEET   DANGER 

comfortable  as  her  own  and  hardly  plainer.  She 
knocked.  As  there  was  no  answer,  she  opened  the  door. 
On  the  bed,  sobbing  heart-brokenly,  lay  Selina,  crushed 
by  the  hideous  injustice  of  being  condemned  capitally 
merely  for  tearing  off  a  bit  of  leather  which  the  shoe 
maker  had  neglected  to  make  secure. 

"  Selina,"  said  Margaret. 

The  maid  turned  her  big,  homely,  swollen  face  on 
the  pillow,  ceased  sobbing,  gasped  in  astonishment. 

"  I've  come  to  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Margaret,  not 
as  superior  to  inferior,  nor  yet  with  the  much-vaunted 
"  just  as  if  they  were  equals,"  but  simply  as  one  human 
being  to  another.  The  maid  sat  up.  One  of  her  braids 
had  come  undone  and  was  hanging  ludicrously  down 
across  her  cheek. 

"  I  insulted  you,  and  I'm  horribly  ashamed."  Wist 
fully:  "Will  you  forgive  me?" 

"  Oh,  law !  "  cried  the  maid  despairingly,  "  I'm  dream 
ing."  And  she  threw  herself  down  once  more  and  sob 
bed  afresh. 

Margaret  knelt  beside  the  bed,  put  her  hand  appeal- 
ingly  on  the  girl's  shoulder.  "  Can  you  forgive  me, 
Selina  ?  "  said  she.  "  There's  no  excuse  for  me  except 
that  I've  had  so  much  hard  luck,  and  everything  seems 
to  be  going  to  pieces  under  me." 

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^ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Selina  stopped  sobbing.  "  I  told  a  story  when  I 
came  to  you  and  said  I'd  had  three  years'  experience," 
moaned  she,  not  to  be  outdone  in  honorable  generosity. 
"  It  was  only  three  months  as  lady's  maid,  and  not  much 
of  a  lady,  neither." 

"  I  don't  in  the  least  care,"  Margaret  assured  her. 
"  I'm  not  strictly  truthful  myself  at  times,  and  I  do 
all  sorts  of  horrid  things." 

"  But  that's  natural  in  a  lady,"  objected  Selina, 
"  where  there  ain't  no  excuse  for  me  that  have  only  my 
character." 

Margaret  was  careful  not  to  let  Selina  see  her  smile 
in  appreciation  of  this  unconsciously  profound  obser 
vation  upon  life  and  morals.  "  Never  mind,"  said  she ; 
"  you're  going  to  be  a  good  maid  soon.  You're  learn 
ing  quickly." 

"  No,  no,"  wailed  Selina.  "  I'm  a  regular  block 
head,  and  my  hands  is  too  coarse." 

"  But  you  have  a  good  heart  and  I  like  you,"  said 
Margaret.  "  And  I  want  you  to  forgive  me  and  like 
me.  I'm  so  lonely  and  unhappy.  And  I  need  the  love 
of  one  so  close  to  me  all  the  time  as  you  are.  It'd  be  a 
real  help." 

Selina  began  to  cry  again,  and  then  Margaret  gave 
way  to  tears ;  and,  presently,  out  came  the  dreadful 

102 


MR.    CRAIG   IN   SWEET   DANGER 

story  of  the  lover's  fight  and  jailing;  and  Margaret,  of 
course,  promised  to  see  that  he  was  released  at  once. 
When  she  went  to  her  own  room,  the  maid  following  to 
help  her  efface  the  very  disfiguring  evidence  of  their 
humble,  emotional  drama,  Margaret  had  recovered  her 
self-esteem  and  had  won  a  friend,  who,  if  too  stupid  to 
be  very  useful,  was  also  too  stupid  to  be  unfaithful. 

As  it  was  on  the  same  day,  and  scarcely  one  brief 
hour  later,  it  must  have  been  the  very  same  Margaret 
who  paced  the  alley  of  trimmed  elms,  her  eyes  so  stern 
and  somber,  her  mouth  and  chin  so  hard  that  her  wor 
shipful  sister  Lucia  watched  in  silent,  fascinated  dread. 
At  length  Margaret  noted  Lucia,  halted  and :  "  Why 
don't  you  read  your  book  ?  "  she  cried  fiercely.  "  Why 
do  you  sit  staring  at  me?  " 

"  What  a  temper  you  have  got  —  what  a  nasty  tem 
per  ! "  Lucia  was  goaded  into  retorting. 

"  Haven't  I,  though ! "  exclaimed  Margaret,  as  if  she 
gloried  in  it.  "  Stop  that  staring !  " 

"  I  could  see  you  were  thinking  something  —  some 
thing  —  terrible!  "  explained  Lucia. 

Margaret's  face  cleared  before  a  satirical  smile. 
"  What  a  romancer  you  are,  Lucia."  Then,  with  a 
laugh :  "  I'm  taking  myself  ridiculously  seriously  to 
day.  Temper  —  giving  way  to  temper  —  is  a  sure 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

sign  of  defective  intelligence  or  of  defective  digestion." 

"  Is  it  about  —  about  Mr.  Craig  ?  " 

Margaret  reddened,  dropped  to  the  bench  near  her 
sister  —  evidence  that  she  was  willing  to  talk,  to  con 
fide  —  so  far  as  she  ever  confided  her  inmost  self  —  to 
the  one  person  she  could  trust. 

"  Has  he  asked  you  to  marry  him  ?  " 

"  No ;  not  yet." 

"  But  he's  going  to?  " 

Margaret  gave  a  queer  smile.  "  He  doesn't  think 
so." 

"  He  wouldn't  dare !  "  exclaimed  Lucia.  "  Why,  he's 
not  in  the  same  class  with  you." 

"  So !  The  little  romancer  is  not  so  romantic  that 
she  forgets  her  snobbishness." 

"  I  mean,  he's  so  rude  and  noisy.     I  detest  him !  " 

"  So  do  I  —  at  times." 

Lucia  looked  greatly  relieved.  "  I  thought  you  were 
encouraging  him.  It  seemed  sort  of  —  of  —  cheap, 
unworthy  of  you,  to  care  to  flirt  with  a  man  like  that." 

Margaret's  expression  became  strange  indeed.  "  I 
am  not  flirting  with  him,"  she  said  gravely.  "  I'm  go 
ing  to  marry  him." 

Lucia  was  too  amazed  to  speak,  was  so  profoundly 
shocked  that  her  usually  rosy  cheeks  grew  almost  pale. 

104 


MR.    CRAIG  IN  SWEET  DANGER 

"  Yes,  I  shall  marry  him,"  repeated  Margaret  slowly. 

"  But  you  don't  love  him ! "  cried  Lucia. 

"  I  dislike  him,"  replied  Margaret.  After  a  pause 
she  added :  "  When  a  woman  makes  up  her  mind  to 
marry  a  man,  willy-nilly,  she  begins  to  hate  him.  It's 
a  case  of  hunter  and  hunted.  Perhaps,  after  she's  got 
him,  she  may  change.  But  not  till  the  trap  springs  — 
not  till  the  game's  bagged." 

Lucia  shuddered.  "  Oh,  Rita !  "  she  cried.  And  she 
turned  away  to  bury  her  face  in  her  arms. 

"  I  suppose  I  oughtn't  to  tell  you  these  things,'* 
pursued  Margaret ;  "  I  ought  to  leave  you  your  illu 
sions  as  long  as  possible.  But  —  why  shouldn't  you 
know  the  truth?  Perhaps,  if  we  all  faced  the  truth 
about  things,  instead  of  sheltering  ourselves  in  lies, 
the  world  would  begin  to  improve." 

"  But  I  don't  see  why  you  chose  Aim,"  persisted 
Lucia. 

"  I  didn't.     Fate  did  the  choosing." 

"  But  why  not  somebody  like  —  like  Grant  Ark- 
wright?  Rita,  I'm  sure  he's  fond  of  you." 

"  So  am  I,"  said  Rita.  "  But  he's  got  the  idea  he 
would  be  doing  me  a  favor  in  marrying  me;  and  when 
a  man  gets  that  notion  it's  fatal.  Also  —  He  doesn't 
realize  it  himself,  but-  I'm  not  prim  enough  to  suit  him. 

105 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

He  imagines  he's  liberal  —  that's  a  common  failing 
among  men.  But  a  woman  who  is  natural  shocks  them, 
and  they  are  taken  in  and  pleased  by  one  who  poses  as 
more  innocent  and  impossible  than  any  human  being 
not  perfectly  imbecile  could  remain  in  a  world  that  con 
ceals  nothing.  ...  I  despise  Grant  —  I  like  him, 
but  despise  him." 

"  He  is  small,"  admitted  Lucia. 

"  Small?  He's  infinitesimal.  He'd  be  mean  with  his 
wife  about  money.  He'd  run  the  house  himself.  He 
should  have  been  a  butler." 

*'  But,  at  least,  he's  a  gentleman." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Margaret.  "  Yes,  I  suppose  so. 
I  despise  him,  while,  in  a  way,  I  respect  Craig." 

"  He  has  such  a  tough-looking  skin,"  said  Lucia. 

"  I  don't  mind  that  in  a  man,"  replied  Margaret. 

"  His  hands  are  like  —  like  a  coachman's,"  said 
Lucia.  "  Whenever  I  look  at  them  I  think  of  Thomas." 

"  No,  they're  more  like  the  parrot's  —  they're  claws. 
That's  why  I'm  marrying  him." 

"  Because  he  has  ugly  hands  ?  " 

"  Because  they're  ugly  in  just  that  way.  They're 
the  hands  of  the  man  who  gets  things  and  holds  on  to 
things.  I'm  taking  him  because  he  can  get  for  me  what 
I  need."  Margaret  patted  her  sister  on  the  shoulder. 

106 


MR.    CRAIG   IN   SWEET   DANGER 

"  Cheer  up,  Lucia !  I'm  lucky,  I  tell  you.  I'm  getting, 
merely  at  the  price  of  a  little  lying  and  a  little  shudder 
ing,  what  most  people  can't  get  at  any  price." 

"  But  he  hasn't  any  money,"  objected  Lucia. 

"  If  he  had,  no  doubt  you'd  find  him  quite  tolerable. 
Even  you  —  a  young  innocent." 

"  It  does  make  a  difference,"  admitted  Lucia.  "  You 
see,  people  have  to  have  money  or  they  can't  live  like 
gentlemen  and  ladies." 

"That's  it,"  laughed  Margaret.  "What's  a  little 
thing  like  self-respect  beside  ease  and  comfort  and 
luxury?  As  grandmother  said,  a  lady  who'd  put  any 
thing  before  luxury  has  lost  her  self-respect." 

"  Everybody,  that's  nice  ought  to  have  money,"  de 
clared  Lucia.  "  Then  the  world  would  be  beautiful, 
full  of  love  and  romance,  with  everybody  clean  and 
well-dressed  and  never  in  a  hurry." 

But  Margaret  seemed  not  to  hear.  She  was  gazing 
at  the  fountain,  her  unseeing  eyes  gloomily  reflecting 
her  thoughts. 

"  If  Mr.  Craig  hasn't  got  money  why  marry  him?  " 
asked  her  sister. 

"  He  can  get  it,"  replied  Margaret  tersely.  "  He's 
the  man  to  trample  and  crowd  and  clutch,  and  make 
everybody  so  uncomfortable  that  they'll  gladly  give  him 

107 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

what  he's  snatching  for."  She  laughed  mockingly. 
"  Yes,  I  shall  get  what  I  want  " —  then  soberly  — "  if 
I  can  get  him." 

"  Get  him!  Why,  he'll  be  delighted!  And  he  ought 
to  be." 

"  No,  he  oughtn't  to  be ;  but  he  will  be." 

"  A  man  like  him  —  marrying  a  lady !  And  marry 
ing  you!  "  Lucia  threw  her  arms  round  her  sister's  neck 
and  dissolved  in  tears.  "  Oh,  Rita,  Rita ! "  she  sobbed. 
**  You  are  the  dearest,  loveliest  girl  on  earth.  I'm  sure 
you're  not  doing  it  for  yourself,  at  all.  I'm  sure  you're 
doing  it  for  my  sake." 

"  You're  quite  wrong,"  said  Rita,  who  was  sitting  un 
moved  and  was  looking  like  her  grandmother.  "  I'm 
doing  it  for  myself.  I'm  fond,  of  luxury  —  of  fine 
dresses  and  servants  and  all  that.  .  .  .  Think  of 
the  thousands,  millions  of  women  who  marry  just  for 
a  home  and  a  bare  living!  .  .  .  No  doubt,  there's 
something  wrong  about  the  whole  thing,  but  I  don't 
see  just  what.  If  woman  is  made  to  lead  a  sheltered 
life,  to  be  supported  by  a  man,  to  be  a  man's  plaything, 
why,  she  can't  often  get  the  man  she'd  most  like  to  be 
the  plaything  of,  can  she  ?  " 

"  Isn't  there  any  such  thing  as  love  ?  "  Lucia  ventured 
wistfully.  "  Marrying  for  love,  I  mean." 

108 


MR.   CRAIG  IN  SWEET  DANGER 

"  Not  among  our  sort  of  people,  except  by  accident," 
Margaret  assured  her.  "  The  money's  the  main  thing. 
We  don't  say  so.  We  try  not  to  think  so.  We  de 
nounce  as  low  and  coarse  anybody  that  does  say  so. 
But  it's  the  truth,  just  the  same.  .  .  .  Those  who 
marry  for  money  regret  it,  but  not  so  much  as  those 
who  marry  only  for  love  —  when  poverty  begins  to 
pinch  and  to  drag  everything  fine  and  beautiful  down 
into  the  mud.  Besides,  I  don't  love  anybody  —  thank 
God!  If  I  did,  Lucia,  I'm  afraid  I'd  not  have  the 
courage ! " 

"  I'm  sure  you  couldn't ! "  cried  Lucia,  eager  to  save 
all  possible  illusion  about  her  sister.  Then,  remorse 
ful  for  disloyal  thoughts :  "  And,  if  it  wasn't  right, 
I'm  sure  you'd  not  do  it.  You  may  fall  in  love  with 
him  afterward." 

"  Yes,"  assented  Margaret,  kissing  Lucia  on  an 
impulse  of  gratitude.  "  Yes,  I  may.  I  probably  shall. 
Surely,  I'm  not  to  go  through  life  never  doing  any 
thing  I  ought  to  do." 

"  He's  really  handsome,  in  that  bold,  common  way. 
And  you  can  teach  him." 

Margaret  laughed  with  genuine  mirth.  "  How  sur 
prised  he'd  be,"  she  exclaimed,  "  if  he  could  know  what's 
going  on  in  my  head ! " 

109 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  He'll  be  on  his  knees  to  you,"  pursued  Lucia,  won 
derfully  cheered  up  by  her  confidence  in  the  miracles 
Margaret's  teaching  would  work.  "  And  he'll  do  what 
ever  you  say." 

"  Yes,  I'll  teach  him,"  said  Margaret,  herself  more 
hopeful;  for  must  always  improves  with  acquaintance. 
"  I'll  make  him  over  completely.  Oh,  he's  not  so  bad 
as  they  think  —  not  by  any  means." 

Lucia    made   an    exaggerated    gesture    of   shivering. 

"  He  gets  on  my  nerves,"  said  she.  "  He's  so  horribly 
abrupt  and  ill-mannered." 

"  Yes,  I'll  train  him,"  said  Margaret,  musing  aloud. 
"  He  doesn't  especially  fret  my  nerves.  A  woman  gets 
a  good,  strong  nervous  system  —  and  a  good,  strong 
stomach  —  after  she  has  been  out  a  few  years."  She 
laughed.  "  And  he  thinks  I'm  as  fine  and  delicate  as 
—  as—" 

"  As  you  look,"  suggested  Lucia. 

"  As  I  look,"  accepted  Margaret.  "  How  we  do  de 
ceive  men  by  our  looks!  Really,  Lucia,  he's  far  more 
sensitive  than  I  —  far  more." 

"  That's  too  silly  !  " 

"  If  I  were  a  millionth  part  as  coarse  as  he  is  he'd 
fly  from  me.  Yet  I'm  not  flying  from  him." 

110 


MR.  CRAIG  IN  SWEET  DANGER 

This  was  unanswerable.  Lucia  rejoined:  "When 
are  you  going  to  —  to  do  it  ?  " 

"  Right  away.  ...  I  want  to  get  it  over  with. 
.  .  .  I  can't  stand  the  suspense.  ...  I  can't 
stand  it !  "  And  Lucia  was  awed  and  silenced  by  the 
sudden,  strained  look  of  anguish  almost  that  made  Mar 
garet's  face  haggard  and  her  eyes  wild. 


Ill 


CHAPTER  VII 

MES,    SEVERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

Craig  swooped  upon  the  Severences  the  next  after 
noon.  His  arrivals  were  always  swoopings  —  a  swift 
descent  on  a  day  when  he  was  not  expected;  or,  if  the 
day  was  forearranged,  then  the  hour  would  be  a  sur 
prise.  It  was  a  habit  with  him,  a  habit  deliberately 
formed.  He  liked  to  take  people  unawares,  to  create 
a  flurry,  reasoning  that  he,  quick  of  eye  and  determined 
of  purpose,  could  not  but  profit  by  any  confusion.  He 
was  always  in  a  hurry  —  that  is,  he  seemed  to  be.  In 
this  also  there  was  deliberation.  It  does  not  follow  be 
cause  a  man  is  in  a  hurry  that  he  is  an  important  and 
busy  person ;  no  more  does  it  follow  that  a  man  is  an 
inconsequential  procrastinator  if  he  is  leisurely  and 
dilatory.  The  significance  of  action  lies  in  intent. 
Some  men  can  best  gain  their  ends  by  creating  an  im 
pression  that  they  are  extremely  lazy,  others  by  creating 
the  impression  that  they  are  exceedingly  energetic.  The 
important  point  is  to  be  on  the  spot  at  the  moment  most 

112 


MRS.  SEFERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

favorable  for  gaining  the  desired  advantage;  and  it  will 
be  found  that  of  the  men  who  get  what  they  want  in 
this  world,  both  those  who  seem  to  hasten  and  those 
who  seem  to  lounge  are  always  at  the  right  place  at 
the  right  time. 

It  best  fitted  Craig,  by  nature  impatient,  noisily  ag 
gressive,  to  adopt  the  policy  of  rush.  He  arrived  before 
time  usually,  fumed  until  he  had  got  everybody  into 
that  nervous  state  in  which  men,  and  women,  too,  will 
yield  more  than  they  ever  would  in  the  kindly,  melting 
mood.  Though  he  might  stay  hours,  he,  each  moment, 
gave  the  impression  that  everybody  must  speak  quickly 
or  he  would  be  gone,  might  quickly  be  rid  of  him  by 
speaking  quickly.  Obviously,  intercourse  with  him  was 
socially  unsatisfactory ;  but  this  did  not  trouble  him, 
as  his  theory  of  life  was,  get  what  you  want,  never 
mind  the  way  or  the  feelings  of  others.  And  as  he  got 
by  giving,  attached  his  friends  by  self-interest,  made 
people  do  for  him  what  it  was  just  as  well  that  they 
should  do,  the  net  result,  after  the  confusion  and  irrita 
tion  had  calmed,  was  that  everybody  felt,  on  the  whole, 
well  content  with  having  been  compelled.  It  was  said 
of  him  that  he  made  even  his  enemies  work  for  him ;  and 
this  was  undoubtedly  true  —  in  the  sense  in  which  it 
was  meant  as  well  as  in  the  deeper  sense  that  a  man's 

113 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

enemies,  if  he  be  strong,  are  his  most  assiduous  allies 
and  advocates.  It  was  also  true  that  he  did  a  great  deal 
for  people.  Where  most  men  do  favors  only  when  the 
prospect  of  return  is  immediate,  he  busied  himself  as 
energetically  if  returns  seemed  remote,  even  improbable, 
as  he  did  when  his  right  hand  was  taking  in  with  inter 
est  as  his  left  hand  gave.  It  was  his  nature  to  be  gen 
erous,  to  like  to  give;  it  was  also  his  nature  to  see  that 
a  reputation  for  real  generosity  and  kindness  of  heart 
was  an  invaluable  asset,  and  that  the  only  way  to  win 
such  a  reputation  was  by  deserving  it. 

Craig  arrived  at  the  Severences  at  half-past  four, 
when  no  one  was  expected  until  five.  "  Margaret  is 
dressing,"  explained  Mrs.  Severence,  as  she  entered  the 
drawing-room.  "  She'll  be  down  presently  —  if  you 
care  to  wait."  This,  partly  because  she  hoped  he  would 
go,  chiefly  because  he  seemed  in  such  a  hurry. 

"  I'll  wait  a  few  minutes,"  said  Craig  in  his  sharp, 
irritating  voice. 

And  he  began  to  tour  the  room,  glancing  at  pictures, 
at  articles  on  the  tables,  mussing  the  lighter  pieces  of 
furniture  about.  Mrs.  Severence,  pink-and-white. 
middle-aged,  fattish  and  obviously  futile,  watched  him 
with  increasing  nervousness.  He  would  surely  break 
something;  or,  being  by  a  window  when  the  impulse  to 

114 


MRS.  SEFERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

depart  seized  him,  would  leap  through,  taking  sash, 
curtains  and  all  with  him. 

"  Perhaps  we'd  better  go  outdoors,"  suggested  she. 
She  felt  very  helpless,  as  usual.  It  was  from  her  that 
Lucia  inherited  her  laziness  and  her  taste  for  that  most 
indolent  of  all  the  dissipations,  the  reading  of  love 
stories. 

"  Outdoors  ?  "  exploded  Craig,  wheeling  on  her,  as 
if  he  had  previously  been  unconscious  of  her  presence. 
"  No.  We'll  sit  here.  I  want  to  talk  to  you." 

And  he  plumped  himself  into  a  chair  near  by,  his 
claw-like  hands  upon  his  knees,  his  keen  eyes  and  beak- 
like  nose  bent  toward  her.  Mrs.  Severence  visibly 
shrank.  She  felt  as  if  that  handsome,  predatory  face 
were  pressed  against  the  very  window  of  her  inmost 
soul. 

"  You  wish  to  talk  to  me,"  she  echoed,  with  a  feeble 
conciliatory  smile. 

"  About  your  daughter,"  said  Craig,  still  more  curt 
and  aggressive.  "  Mrs.  Severence,  your  daughter  ought 
to  get  married." 

Roxana  Severence  was  so  amazed  that  her  mouth 
dropped  open.  "  Married?  "  she  echoed,  as  if  her  ears 
had  deceived  her. 

The  colossal  impudence  of  it!  This  young  man, 
115 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

this  extremely  common  young  man,  daring  to  talk  to 
her  about  such  a  private  matter !  And  she  had  not  yet 
known  him  a  month;  and  only  within  the  last  fortnight 
had  he  been  making  frequent  visits  —  entirely  on  his 
own  invitation,  for  she  certainly  would  not  overtly  pro 
voke  such  a  visitation  as  his  coming  meant.  Mrs. 
Severence  would  have  been  angry  had  she  dared.  But 
Craig's  manner  was  most  alarming ;  what  would  —  what 
would  not  a  person  so  indifferent  to  the  decencies  of 
life  do  if  he  were  crossed? 

"  She  must  get  married,"  pursued  Craig  firmly.  "  Do 
you  know  why  I've  been  coming  here  these  past  two  or 
three  weeks  ?  " 

Mrs.  Severence  was  astounded  anew.  The  man  was 
actually  about  to  propose  for  her  daughter !  This  com 
mon  man,  with  nothing! 

"  It's  not  my  habit  to  make  purposeless  visits,"  con 
tinued  he,  "  especially  among  frivolous,  idle  people  like 
you.  I've  been  coming  here  to  make  a  study  of  your 
daughter." 

He  paused.  Mrs.  Severence  gave  a  feeble,  frightened 
smile,  made  a  sound  that  might  have  been  mirth  and 
again  might  have  been  the  beginnings  of  a  hastily- 
suppressed  call  for  help. 

"  And,"  Craig  went  on  energetically,  "  I  find  that 
116 


MRS.  SEVERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

she  is  a  very  superior  sort  of  person.  In  another 
environment  she  might  have  been  a  big,  strong  woman. 
She's  amazing,  considering  the  sickly,  sycophantic 
atmosphere  she's  been  brought  up  in.  Now,  I  want  to 
see  her  married.  She's  thoroughly  discontented  and 
unhappy.  She's  becoming  sour  and  cynical.  We 
must  get  her  married.  It's  your  duty  to  rouse  your 
self." 

Mrs.  Severence  did  rouse  herself  just  at  this  mo 
ment.  Cheeks  aflame  and  voice  trembling,  she  stood 
and  said: 

"  You  are  very  kind,  Mr.  Craig,  to  offer  to  assist  me 
in  bringing  up  my  family.  Surely  —  such  —  such  in 
terest  is  unusual  on  brief  and  very  slight  acquaintance." 
She  rang  the  bell.  "  I  can  show  my  appreciation  in 
only  one  way."  The  old  butler,  Williams,  appeared. 
"  Williams,  show  this  gentlemen  out."  And  she  left 
the  room. 

Williams,  all  frigid  dignity  and  politeness,  stood  at 
the  large  entrance  doors,  significantly  holding  aside  one 
curtain.  Craig  rose,  his  face  red.  "  Mrs.  Severence 
isn't  very  well,"  said  he  noisily  to  the  servant,  as  if  he 
were  on  terms  of  closest  intimacy  with  the  family.  "  Tell 
Margaret  I'll  wait  for  her  in  the  garden."  And  he 
rushed  out  by  the  window  that  opened  on  the  veranda, 

117 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

leaving  the  amazed  butler  at  the  door,  uncertain  what 
to  do. 

Mrs.  Severance,  ascending  the  stairs  in  high  good 
humor  with  herself  at  having  handled  a  sudden 
and  difficult  situation  as  well  as  she  had  ever  read  of 
its  being  handled  in  a  novel,  met  her  daughter  de 
scending. 

"  Sh-h ! "  said  she  in  a  whisper,  for  she  had  not  heard 
the  front  door  close.  "  He  may  not  be  gone.  Come 
with  me." 

Margaret  followed  her  mother  into  the  library  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs. 

"  It  was  that  Craig  man,"  explained  Mrs.  Severence, 
when  she  had  the  door  closed.  "  What  do  you  think  he 
had  the  impudence  to  do  ?  " 

"  I'm  sure  I  can't  imagine,"  said  Margaret,  im 
patient. 

"  He  proposed  for  you !  " 

Margaret  reflected  a  brief  instant.  "  Nonsense ! " 
she  said  decisively.  "  He's  not  that  kind.  You  mis 
understood  him." 

"  I  tell  you  he  did ! "  cried  her  mother.  "  And  I 
ordered  him  out  of  the  house." 

"  What  ?  "  screamed  Margaret,  clutching  her  mother's 
arm.  "  What?  " 

118 


MRS.  SEFERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

"  I  ordered  him  out  of  the  house,"  stammered  her 
mother. 

"  I  wish  you'd  stick  to  your  novels  and  let  me  attend 
to  my  own  affairs,"  cried  Margaret,  pale  with  fury.  "  Is 
he  gone?  " 

"  I  left  Williams  attending  to  it.    Surely,  Rita  — " 

But  Margaret  had  flung  the  door  open  and  was  dart 
ing  down  the  stairs.  "  Where  is  he?  "  she  demanded 
fiercely  of  Williams,  still  in  the  drawing-room  doorway. 

"  In  the  garden,  ma'am,"  said  Williams.  "  He  didn't 
pay  no  attention." 

But  Margaret  was  rushing  through  the  drawing- 
room.  At  the  French  windows  she  caught  sight  of  him, 
walking  up  and  down  in  his  usual  quick,  alert  manner, 
now  smelling  flowers,  now  staring  up  into  the  trees,  now 
scrutinizing  the  upper  windows  of  the  house.  She  drew 
back,  waited  until  she  had  got  her  breath  and  had  com 
posed  her  features.  Then,  with  the  long  skirts  of  her 
graceful  pale-blue  dress  trailing  behind  her,  and  a  big 
white  sunshade  open  and  resting  upon  her  shoulder,  she 
went  down  the  veranda  steps  and  across  the  lawn  toward 
him.  He  paused,  gazed  at  her  in  frank  —  vulgarly 
frank  —  admiration;  just  then,  it  seemed  to  her,  he 
never  said  or  did  or  looked  anything  except  in  the  vul- 
garest  way. 

119 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  You  certainly  are  a  costly-looking  luxury,"  said 
he  loudly,  when  there  were  still  a  dozen  yards  between 
them.  "  Oh,  there's  your  mother  at  the  window,  up 
stairs  —  her  bedroom  window." 

"  How  did  you  know  it  was  her  bedroom  ?  "  asked 
Margaret. 

"  While  I  was  waiting  for  you  to  come  down  one  day 
I  sent  for  one  of  the  servants  and  had  him  explain  the 
lay  of  the  house." 

"  Really !  "  said  Margaret,  satirical  and  amused.  "  I 
suppose  there  was  no  mail  on  the  table  or  you'd  have 
read  that  while  you  waited?  " 

"  There  you  go,  trying  to  say  clever,  insulting  things. 
Why  not  be  frank?  Why  not  be  direct?  " 

"  Why  should  I,  simply  because  you  wish  it  ?  You 
don't  half  realize  how  amusing  you  are." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  do,"  retorted  he,  with  a  shrewd,  quick 
glance  from  those  all-seeing  eyes  of  his. 

"  Half,  I  said.  You  do  half  realize.  I  told  you  once 
before  that  I  knew  what  a  fraud  you  were." 

"  I  play  my  game  in  my  own  way,"  evaded  he ;  "  and 
it  seems  to  be  doing  nicely,  thank  you." 

"  But  the  further  you  go,  the  harder  it'll  be  for  you 
to  progress." 

"  Then  the  harder  for  those  opposing  me.  I  don't 
120 


MRS.  SEFERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

make  it  easy  for  those  who  are  making  it  hard  for  me. 
I  get  'em  so  busy  nursing  their  own  wounds  that  they've 
no  longer  time  to  bother  me.  I've  told  you  before,  and 
I  tell  you  again,  I  shall  go  where  I  please." 

"  Let  me  see,"  laughed  Margaret ;  "  it  was  Napoleon 
—  wasn't  it  ?  —  who  used  to  talk  that  way  ?  " 

"  And  you  think  I'm  imitating  him,  eh  ?  " 

"  You  do  suggest  it  very  often." 

"  I  despise  him.  A  wicked,  little,  dago  charlatan  who 
was  put  out  of  business  as  soon  as  he  was  really  opposed. 
No !  —  no  Waterloo  for  me !  .  .  .  How's  your 
mother?  She  got  sick  while  I  was  talking  to  her  and 
had  to  leave  the  room." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  said  Margaret. 

"  You  ought  to  make  her  take  more  exercise.  Don't 
let  her  set  foot  in  a  carriage.  We  are  animals,  and 
nature  has  provided  that  animals  shall  walk  to  keep  in 
health.  Walking  and  things  like  that  are  the  only  sane 
modes  of  getting  about.  Everything  aristocratic  is 
silly.  As  soon  as  we  begin  to  rear  and  strut  we  stumble 
into  our  graves  —  But  it's  no  use  to  talk  to  you  about 
that.  I  came  on  another  matter." 

Margaret's  lips  tightened;  she  hastily  veiled  her 
eyes. 

"  I've  taken  a  great  fancy  to  you,"  Craig  went  on. 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  That's  why  I've  wasted  so  much  time  on  you.  What 
you  need  is  a  husband  —  a  good  husband.  Am  I  not 
right?  " 

Margaret,  pale,  said  faintly :     "  Go  on." 

"  You  know  I'm  right.  Every  man  and  every  woman 
ought  to  marry.  A  home  —  children  —  that's  life. 
The  rest  is  all  incidental  —  trivial.  Do  you  suppose 
I  could  work  as  I  do  if  it  wasn't  that  I'm  getting  ready 
to  be  a  family  man  ?  I  need  love  —  sympathy  — 
tenderness.  People  think  I'm  hard  and  ambitious.  But 
they  don't  know.  I've  got  a  heart,  overflowing  with 
tenderness,  as  some  woman'll  find  out  some  day.  But 
I  didn't  come  to  talk  about  myself." 

Margaret  made  a  movement  of  surprise  —  invol 
untary,  startled. 

"  No,  I  don't  always  talk  about  myself,"  Craig  went 
on ;  "  and  I'll  let  you  into  a  secret.  I  don't  think  about 
myself  nearly  so  much  as  many  of  these  chaps  who 
never  speak  of  themselves.  However,  as  I  was  saying, 
I'm  going  to  get  you  a  husband.  Now,  don't  you  get 
sick,  as  your  mother  did.  Be  sensible.  Trust  me.  I'll 
see  you  through  —  and  that's  more  than  any  of  these 
cheap,  shallow  people  round  you  would  do." 

"Well?  "said  Margaret. 

"  You  and  Grant  Arkwright  are  going  to  marry. 
122 


MRS.  SEFERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

Now  don't  pretend  —  don't  protest.  It's  the  proper 
thing  and  it  must  be  done.  You  like  him?  " 

As  Craig  was  looking  sharply  at  her  she  felt  she 
must  answer.  She  made  a  vague  gesture  of  assent. 

"  Of  course ! "  said  Craig.  "  If  you  and  he  led  a 
natural  life  you'd  have  been  married  long  ago.  Now, 
I'm  going  to  dine  with  him  to-night.  I'll  lay  the  case 
before  him.  He'll  be  out  here  after  you  to-morrow." 

Margaret  trembled  with  anger.  Two  bright  spots 
burned  in  her  cheeks.  "  You  wouldn't  dare ! "  she  ex 
claimed  breathlessly.  "  No,  not  even  you !  " 

"  And  why  not  ?  "  demanded  Craig  calmly.  "  Do  you 
suppose  I'm  going  to  stand  idly  by,  and  let  two  friends 
of  mine,  two  people  I'm  as  fond  of  as  I  am  of  you  two 
creatures,  make  fools  of  yourselves?  No.  I  shall  bring 
you  together." 

Margaret  rose.  "  If  you  say  a  word  to  Grant  I'll 
never  speak  to  you  again.  And  I  assure  you  I  shouldn't 
marry  him  if  he  were  the  last  man  on  earth." 

"  If  you  only  knew  men  better !  "  exclaimed  Craig 
earnestly.  His  eyes  fascinated  her,  and  his  sharp,  pene 
trating  voice  somehow  seemed  to  reach  to  her  very  soul 
and  seize  it  and  hold  it  enthralled.  "  My  dear  child, 
Grant  Arkwright  is  one  man  in  a  million.  I've  been  with 
him  in  times  that  show  men's  qualities.  Don't  judge 

123 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

men  by  what  they  are  ordinarily.  They  don't  reveal 
their  real  selves.  Wait  till  a  crisis  comes  —  then  you  see 
manhood  or  lack  of  it.  Life  is  bearable,  at  the  worst, 
for  any  of  us  in  the  routine.  But  when  the  crisis  comes 
we  need,  not  only  all  our  own  strength,  but  all  we  can 
rally  to  our  support.  I  tell  you,  Miss  Severence,  Grant 
is  one  of  the  men  that  can  be  relied  on.  I  despise  his 
surface  —  as  I  do  yours.  But  it's  because  I  see  the 
man  —  the  manhood  —  beneath  that  surface,  that  I  love 
him.  And  I  want  him  to  have  a  woman  worthy  of  him. 
That  means  you.  You,  too,  have  the  soul  that  makes  a 
human  being  —  a  real  aristocrat  —  of  the  aristocracy, 
of  strong  and  honest  hearts." 

Craig's  face  was  splendid,  was  ethereal  in  its  beauty, 
yet  flashing  with  manliness.  He  looked  as  she  had  seen 
him  that  night  two  years  before,  when  he  had  held  even 
her  and  her  worldly  friends  spellbound,  had  made  them 
thrill  with  ideas  of  nobility  and  human  helpfulness 
foreign  to  their  everyday  selves.  She  sat  silent  when  he 
•had  finished,  presently  drew  a  long  breath. 

"  Why  aren't  you  always  like  that  ?  "  she  exclaimed 
Jialf  to  herself. 

"You'll  marry  Grant?" 

She  shook  her  head  positively.    "  Impossible." 

44  Why  not?" 

124 


MRS.  SEFERENCE  IS  ROUSED 

"  Impossible,"  she  repeated.  "  And  you  mustn't  speak 
of  it  to  me  —  or  to  him.  I  appreciate  your  motive.  I 
thank  you  —  really,  I  do.  It  makes  me  feel  better,  some 
how,  to  have  had  any  one  think  so  well  of  me  as  you  do~ 
And  Grant  ought  to  be  proud  of  your  friendship." 

Their  eyes  met.  She  flushed  to  the  line  of  her  hair 
and  her  glance  fell,  for  she  felt  utterly  ashamed  of  her 
self  for  the  design  upon  him  which  she  had  been  harbor 
ing.  "  Let  us  go  in  and  join  the  others,"  said  she  con 
fusedly.  And  her  color  fled,  returned  in  a  flood. 

"  No,  I'm  off,"  replied  he,  in  his  ordinary,  sharp,. 

bustling  way.     "  I'm  not  defeated.     I've  done  well 

very  well,  for  a  beginning."     And  he  gave  her  hand 
his  usual  firm,  uncomfortable  clasp,  and  rushed  away. 

She  walked  up  and  down  full  fifteen  minutes  before 
she  went  toward  the  house.  At  the  veranda  Lucia  inter 
cepted  her.  "  Did  he  ?  "  she  asked  anxiously. 

Margaret  looked  at  her  vaguely,  then  smiled.  "  Nor 
he  did  not." 

"  He  didn't  ?  "  exclaimed  Lucia,  at  once  disappointed 
and  relieved. 

"  Not  yet,"  said  Margaret.  She  laughed,  patted' 
Lucia's  full-blown  cheek.  "  Not  quite  yet."  And  she 
went  on  in  to  tea,  humming  to  herself  gayly ;  she  did  not 
understand  her  own  sudden  exceeding  high  spirits. 

125 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ME.    CEAIG   CONFIDES 

Craig  did  not  leave  Margaret  more  precipitately  than 
he  had  intended;  that  would  have  been  impossible,  as 
he  always  strove  to  make  his  departures  seem  as  startling 
and  mysterious  as  a  dematerialization.  But  he  did  leave 
much  sooner  than  he  had  intended,  and  with  only  a 
small  part  of  what  he  had  planned  to  say  said.  He 
withdrew  to  think  it  over;  and  in  the  long  walk  from 
the  Severences  to  his  lodgings  in  the  Wyandotte  he  did 
think  it  over  with  his  usual  exhaustive  thoroughness. 

He  had  been  entirely  sincere  in  his  talk  with  Margaret. 
He  was  a  shrewd  judge  both  of  human  nature  and  of 
situations,  and  he  saw  that  a  marriage  between  Margaret 
and  Grant  would  be  in  every  way  admirable.  He  ap 
preciated  the  fine  qualities  of  both,  and  realized  that 
they  would  have  an  uncommonly  good  chance  of  hitting 
it  off  tranquilly  together.  Of  all  their  qualities  of 
mutual  adaptability  the  one  that  impressed  him  most 
deeply  was  the  one  at  which  he  was  always  scoffing  — 
what  he  called  their  breeding.  Theoretically,  and  so  far 

126 


MR.    CRAIG   CONFIDES 


as  his  personal  practice  went,  he  genuinely  despised 
"  breeding  " ;  but  he  could  not  uproot  a  most  worship 
ful  reverence  for  it,  a  reverence  of  which  he  was 
ashamed.  He  had  no  "  breeding  "  himself ;  he  was  ex 
periencing  in  Washington  a  phase  of  life  which  was 
entirely  new  to  him,  and  it  had  developed  in  him  the 
snobbish  instincts  that  are  the  rankest  weeds  in  the 
garden  of  civih'zation.  Their  seeds  fly  everywhere,  are 
sown  broadcast,  threaten  the  useful  plants  and  the 
flowers  incessantly,  contrive  to  grow,  to  flourish  even, 
in  the  desert  places.  Craig  had  an  instinct  against  this 
plague ;  but  he  was  far  too  self-confident  to  suspect  that 
it  could  enter  his  own  gates  and  attack  his  own  fields. 
He  did  not  dream  that  the  chief  reason  why  he  thought 
Grant  and  Margaret  so  well  suited  to  each  other  was  the 
reason  of  snobbishness ;  that  he  was  confusing  their 
virtues  with  their  vices ;  and  was  admiring  them  for 
qualities  which  were  blighting  their  usefulness  and  even 
threatening  to  make  sane  happiness  impossible  for 
either.  It  was  not  their  real  refinement  that  he  admired, 
and,  at  times,  envied;  it  was  their  showy  affectations  of 
refinement,  those  gaudy  pretenses  that  appeal  to  the 
crude  human  imagination,  like  uniforms  and  titles. 

It  had  not  occurred  to  him  that  Margaret  might  pos 
sibly  be  willing  to  become  his  wife.     He  would  have 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

denied  it  as  fiercely  to  himself  as  to  others,  but  at  bottom 
he  could  not  have  thought  of  himself  as  at  ease  in  any 
intimate  relation  with  her.  He  found  her  beautiful 
physically,  but  much  too  fine  and  delicate  to  be  com 
fortable  with.  He  could  be  brave,  bold,  insolent  with 
her,  in  an  impersonal  way ;  but  personally  he  could  not 
have  ventured  the  slightest  familiarity,  now  that  he 
really  appreciated  "  what  a  refined,  delicate  woman  is." 

But  the  easiest  impression  for  a  woman  to  create  upon 
a  man  —  or  a  man  upon  a  woman  —  is  the  impression 
of  being  in  love.  We  are  so  conscious  of  our  own 
merits,  we  are  so  eager  to  have  them  appreciated,  that 
we  will  exaggerate  or  misinterpret  any  word  or  look, 
especially  from  a  person  of  the  opposite  sex,  into  a 
tribute  to  them.  When  Craig  pleaded  for  Grant  and 
Margaret,  moved  by  his  eloquent  sincerity,  dropped  her 
eyes  and  colored  in  shame  for  her  plans  about  him,  in 
such  black  contrast  with  his  frank  generosity,  he  noted 
her  change  of  expression,  and  instantly  his  vanity  flashed 
into  his  mind :  "  Can  it  be  that  she  loves  me  ?  " 

The  more  he  reflected  upon  it  the  clearer  it  became 
to  him  that  she  did.  Yes,  here  was  being  repeated  the 
old  story  of  the  attraction  of  extremes.  "  She  isn't  so 
refined  that  appreciation  of  real  manhood  has  been  re 
fined  out  of  her,"  thought  he.  "  And  why  shouldn't 

128 


MR.    CRAIG   CONFIDES 


she  love  me?  What  does  all  this  nonsense  of  family  and 
breeding  amount  to,  anyway?  "  His  mind  was  in  great 
confusion.  At  one  moment  he  was  dismissing  the  idea 
of  such  delicateness,  such  super-refined  supersensitive- 
ness  being  taken  with  a  man  of  his  imperfect  bringing-up 
and  humble  origin.  The  next  moment  his  self-esteem 
was  bobbing  again,  was  jauntily  assuring  him  that 
he  was  "  a  born  king  "  and,  therefore,  would  naturally 
be  discovered  and  loved  by  a  truly  princess  —  "  And, 
by  Heaven,  she  is  a  princess  of  the  blood  royal!  Those 
eyes,  those  hands,  those  slender  feet ! "  Having  no 
great  sense  of  humor  he  did  not  remind,  himself  here 
how  malicious  nature  usually  deprives  royalty  of  the 
outward  marks  of  aristocracy  to  bestow  them  upon 
peasant. 

At  last  he  convinced  himself  that  she  was  actually 
burning  with  love  for  him,  that  she  had  lifted  the  veil 
for  an  instant  —  had  lifted  it  deliberately  to  encourage 
him  to  speak  for  himself.  And  he  was  not  repelled  by 
this  forwardness,  was,  on  the  contrary,  immensely  flat 
tered.  It  is  the  custom  for  those  of  high  station  to  re 
assure  those  of  lower,  to  make  them  feel  that  they  may 
draw  near  without  fear.  A  queen  seeking  a  consort 
among  princes  always  begins  the  courting.  A  rich  girl 
willing  to  marry  a  poor  man  lets  him  see  she  will  not  be 

129 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

offended  if  he  offers  to  add  himself  to  her  possessions. 
Yes,  it  would  be  quite  consistent  with  sex-custom,  with 
maidenly  modesty,  for  a  Severence  to  make  the  first  open 
move  toward  a  Josh  Craig. 

"  But  do  I  want  her?  " 

That  was  another  question.  He  admired  her,  he  would 
be  proud  to  have  such  a  wife.  "  She's  just  the  sort  I 
need,  to  adorn  the  station  I'm  going  to  have."  But  what 
of  his  dreams  of  family  life,  of  easy,  domestic  undress, 
which  she  would  undoubtedly  find  coarse  and  vulgar? 
"  It  would  be  like  being  on  parade  all  the  time  —  she's 
been  used  to  that  sort  of  thing  her  whole  life,  but  it'd 
make  me  miserable."  Could  he  afford  a  complete,  a 
lifelong  sacrifice  of  comfort  to  gratify  a  vanity? 

He  had  devoted  much  thought  to  the  question  of  mar 
riage.  On  the  one  hand  he  wanted  money ;  for  in 
politics,  with  the  people  so  stupid  and  so  fickle,  a  man 
without  an  independence,  at  least,  would  surely  find  him 
self,  sooner  or  later,  in  a  position  where  he  must  choose 
between  retiring  and  submitting  himself  to  some  power 
ful  interest  —  either  a  complete  sale,  or  a  mortgage 
hardly  less  galling  to  pride,  no  less  degrading  to  self- 
respect.  On  the  other  hand  he  wanted  a  home  —  a  wife 
like  his  mother,  domestic,  attentive,  looking  out  for  his 
comfort  and  his  health,  herself  taking  care  of  the  chil- 

130 


MR.    CRAIG   CONFIDES 


dren.  And  he  had  arrived  at  a  compromise.  He  would 
marry  a  girl  out  West  somewhere,  a  girl  of  some  small 
town,  brought  up  somewhat  as  he  had  been  brought  up, 
not  shocked  by  what  Margaret  Severence  would  regard 
as  his  vulgarities  —  a  woman  with  whom  he  felt  equal 
and  at  ease.  He  would  select  such  a  woman,  provided, 
in  addition,  with  some  fortune  —  several  hundred  thou 
sands,  at  least,  enough  to  make  him  independent.  Such 
had  been  his  plan.  But  now  that  he  had  seen  Margaret, 
had  come  to  appreciate  her  through  studying  her  as  a 
possible  wife  for  his  unattached  friend  Arkwright,  now 
that  he  had  discovered  her  secret,  her  love  for  him  — 
how  could  he  fit  her  into  his  career?  Was  it  possible? 
Was  it  wise? 

"  The  best  is  none  too  good  for  me,"  said  he  to  him 
self  swaggeringly.  No  doubt  about  it  —  no,  indeed,  not 
the  slightest.  But  —  well,  everybody  wouldn't  realize 
this,  as  yet.  And  it  must  be  admitted  that  those  mere 
foppish,  inane  nothings  did  produce  a  seeming  of  dif 
ference.  Indeed,  it  must  even  be  admitted  that  the  way 
Margaret  had  been  brought  up  would  make  it  hard  for 
her,  with  her  sensitive,  delicate  nerves,  to  bear  with  him 
if  she  really  knew  him.  A  hot  wave  passed  over  his 
body  at  the  thought.  "  How  ashamed  I'd  be  to  have 
her  see  my  wardrobe.  I  really  must  brace  up  in  the 

131 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

matter  of  shirts,  and  in  the  quality  of  underclothes  and 
socks."  No,  she  probably  would  be  shocked  into  aver 
sion  if  she  really  knew  him  —  she,  who  had  been  sur 
rounded  by  servants  in  livery  all  her  life;  who  had 
always  had  a  maid  to  dress  her,  to  arrange  a  delicious 
bath  for  her  every  morning  and  every  evening,  to  lay 
out,  from  a  vast  and  thrilling  store  of  delicate  clothing, 
the  fresh,  clean,  fine,  amazingly  costly  garments  that 
were  to  have  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  of  draping  that 
aristocratic  body  of  hers.  "  Why,  her  maid,"  thought 
he,  "  is  of  about  the  same  appearance  and  education  as 
my  aunts.  Old  Williams  is  a  far  more  cultured  person 
than  my  uncles  or  brothers-in-law."  Of  course,  Selina 
and  Williams  were  menials,  while  his  male  kin  were  men 
and  his  female  relatives  women,  "  and  all  of  them  miles 
ahead  of  anything  in  this  gang  when  it  comes  to  the 
real  thing  —  character."  Still,  so  far  as  appearances 
went  —  "  I'm  getting  to  be  a  damned,  cheap  snob !  " 
cried  he  aloud.  "  To  hell  with  the  whole  crowd !  I 
want  nothing  to  do  with  them  !  " 

But  Margaret,  in  her  beautiful  garments,  diffusing 
perfume  just  as  her  look  and  manner  diffused  the  aroma 
of  gentle  breeding  —  The  image  of  her  was  most  in 
sidiously  alluring ;  he  could  not  banish  it.  "  And,  damn 
it  all,  isn't  she  just  a  human  being?  What's  become  of 

132 


MR.    CRAIG   CONFIDES 


my  common-sense  that  I  treat  these  foolish  trifles  as  if 
they  were  important?  " 

Grant  Arkwright  came  while  the  debate  was  still  on. 
He  soon  noted  that  something  was  at  work  in  Josh's 
mind  to  make  him  so  silent  and  glum,  so  different  from 
his  usual  voluble,  flamboyant  self.  "  What's  up,  Josh  ? 
What  deviltry  are  you  plotting  now  to  add  to  poor  old 
Stillwater's  nervous  indigestion?  " 

"  I'm  thinking  about  marriage,"  said  Craig,  lighting 
a  cigarette  and  dropping  into  the  faded  magnificence  of 
an  ex-salon  chair. 

"  Good  business !  "  exclaimed  Arkwright. 

"  It's  far  more  important  that  you  get  married  than 
that  I  do,"  explained  Craig.  "  At  present  you  don't 
amount  to  a  damn.  You're  like  one  of  those  twittering 
swallows  out  there.  As  a  married  man  you'd  at  least 
have  the  validity  that  attaches  to  every  husband  and 
father." 

"  If  I  could  find  the  right  girl,"  said  Grant. 

"  I  thought  I  had  found  her  for  you,"  continued 
Craig.  "  But,  on  second  thoughts,  I've  about  decided 
to  take  her  for  myself." 

"  Oh,  you  have  ? "  said  Arkwright,  trying  to  be 
facetious  of  look  and  tone. 

"  Yes,"  said  Josh,  in  his  abrupt,  decisive  way.  He 
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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

threw  the  cigarette  into  the  empty  fireplace  and  stood 
up.  "  I  think  I'll  take  your  advice  and  marry  Miss 
Severance." 

"  Really  !  "  mocked  Grant ;  but  he  was  red  with  anger, 
was  muttering  under  his  breath,  "  Insolent  puppy ! " 

"  Yes,  I  think  she'll  do."  Craig  spoke  as  if  his  ver 
dict  were  probably  overpartial  to  her.  "  It's  queer 
about  families  and  the  kind  of  children  they  have. 
Every  once  in  a  while  you'll  find  a  dumb  ass  of  a  man 
whose  brain  will  get  to  boiling  with  liquor  or  some  other 
ferment,  and  it'll  incubate  an  idea,  a  real  idea.  It's  that 
way  about  paternity  —  or,  rather,  maternity.  Now 
who'd  think  that  inane,  silly  mother  of  Margaret's  could 
have  brought  such  a  person  as  she  is  into  the  world?  " 

"  Mrs.  Severence  is  a  very  sweet  and  amiable  lady," 
said  Grant  coldly. 

"  Pooh !  "  scoffed  Craig.  "  She's  a  nothing  —  a  puff 
of  wind  —  a  nit.  Such  as  she,  by  the  great  gross, 
wouldn't  count  one." 

"  I  doubt  if  it  would  be  —  wise  —  politically,  I  mean 
—  for  you  to  marry  a  woman  of  —  of  the  fashionable 
set."  Grant  spoke  judicially,  with  constraint  in  his 
voice. 

"  You're  quite  right  there,"  answered  Craig  prompt 
ly.  "  Still,  it's  a  temptation.  .  .  .  I've  been 

134 


MR.    CRAIG   CONFIDES 


reconsidering  the  idea  since  I  discovered  that  she  loves 
me." 

Grant  leaped  to  his  feet.     "  Loves  you !  "  he  shouted. 

Josh  smiled  calmly.  "  Loves  me,"  said  he.  "  Why 
not,  pray?  " 

"I  —  I  —  I  —  don't  know,"  answered  Grant  weakly. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  do.  You  think  I'm  not  good  enough 
for  her  —  as  if  this  were  not  America,  but  Europe." 
And  he  went  on  loftily :  "  You  ought  to  consider  what 
such  thoughts  mean,  as  revelations  of  your  own  char 
acter,  Grant." 

"  You  misunderstood  me  entirely,"  protested  Grant, 
red  and  guilty.  "  Didn't  I  originally  suggest  her  to 
you  ?  " 

"  But  you  didn't  really  mean  it,"  retorted  Craig  with 
a  laugh  which  Grant  thought  the  quintessence  of  im 
pertinence.  "  You  never  dreamed  she'd  fall  in  love  with 
me." 

"  Josh,"  said  Grant,  "  I  wish  you  wouldn't  say  that 
sort  of  thing.  It's  not  considered  proper  in  this  part 
of  the  country  for  a  gentleman  to  speak  out  that  way 
about  women." 

"  What's  there  to  be  ashamed  of  in  being  in  love  ? 
Besides,  aren't  you  my  best  friend,  the  one  I  confide 
everything  to  ?  " 

135 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  You  confide  everything  to  everybody." 

Craig  looked  amused.  "  There  are  only  two  that 
can  keep  a  secret,"  said  he,  "  nobody  and  everybody. 
I  trust  either  the  one  or  the  other,  and  neither  has  ever 
betrayed  me." 

"  To  go  back  to  the  original  subject:  I'd  prefer  you 
didn't  talk  to  me  in  that  way,  about  that  particular 
young  lady." 

"  Why  ?  .  .  .  Because  you're  in  love  with  her, 
yourself?  " 

Grant  silently  stared  at  the  floor. 

"  Poor  old  chap,"  said  Craig  sympathetically. 

Arkwright  winced,  started  to  protest,  decided  it  was 
just  as  well  to  let  Craig  think  what  he  pleased  at  that 
juncture. 

"  Poor  old  chap ! "  repeated  Josh.  "  Well,  you 
needn't  despair.  It's  true  she  isn't  in  love  with  you  and 
is  in  love  with  me.  But  if  I  keep  away  from  her  and 
discourage  her  it'll  soon  die  out.  Women  of  that  sort 
of  bringing  up  aren't  capable  of  any  enduring  emotion 
—  unless  they  have  outside  aid  in  keeping  it  alive." 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Arkwright  bitterly.  "  I 
decline  to  be  put  in  the  position  of  victim  of  your  gen 
erosity.  Josh,  let  me  tell  you,  your  notion  that  she's 
in  love  with  you  is  absurd.  I'd  advise  you  not  to  go 

136 


MR.    CRAIG   CONFIDES 


round  confiding  it  to  people,  in  your  usual  fashion. 
You'll  make  yourself  a  laughing  stock." 

"  I've  told  no  one  but  you,"  protested  Craig. 

"  Have  you  seen  any  one  else  since  you  got  the  idea?  " 

"  No,  I  haven't,"  he  admitted  with  a  laugh.  "  Now 
that  you've  told  me  the  state  of  your  heart  I'll  not  speak 
of  her  feeling  for  me.  I  give  you  my  word  of  honor 
on  that.  I  understand  how  a  chap  like  you,  full  of  false 
pride,  would  be  irritated  at  having  people  know  he'd 
married  a  woman  who  was  once  in  love  with  some  one 
else.  For  of  course  you'll  marry  her." 

"  I'm  not  sure  of  that.  I  haven't  your  sublime  self- 
confidence,  you  know." 

"  Oh,  I'll  arrange  it,"  replied  Craig,  full  of  en 
thusiasm.  "  In  fact,  I  had  already  begun,  this  very 
afternoon,  when  she  let  me  see  that  she  loved  me  and, 
so,  brought  me  up  standing." 

"  Damn  it,  man,  don't  say  that ! "  cried  Grant,  all 
afire.  "  I  tell  you  it's  crazy,  conceited  nonsense." 

"  All  right,  all  right,  old  chap,"  soothed  Josh. 

And  it  frenzied  Arkwright  to  see  that  he  said  this 
merely  to  spare  the  feelings  of  an  unrequited  lover,  not 
at  all  because  he  had  begun  to  doubt  Margaret's  love. 
"  Come  down  to  dinner  and  let's  talk  no  more  about  it," 
eaid  Grant,  with  a  great  effort  restraining  himself.  "  I 

137 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

tell  you,  Josh,  you  make  it  mighty  hard  sometimes  for 
me  to  remember  what  I  owe  you." 

Craig  wheeled  on  him  with  eyes  that  flashed  and 
pierced.  "  My  young  friend,"  said  he,  "  you  owe  me 
nothing.  And  let  me  say  to  you,  once  for  all,  you  are 
free  to  break  with  me  at  any  instant  —  you  or  any 
other  man.  Whenever  I  find  I'm  beginning  to  look  on 
a  man  as  necessary  to  me  I  drop  him  —  break  with  him. 
I  am  necessary  to  my  friends,  not  they  to  me.  I  like 
you,  but  be  careful  how  you  get  impertinent  with  me." 

Craig  eyed  him  fiercely  and  steadily  until  Arkwright's 
gaze  dropped.  Then  he  laughed  friendly.  "  Come 
along,  Grant,"  said  he.  "  You're  a  good  fellow,  and 
I'll  get  you  the  girl."  And  he  linked  his  arm  in  Ark 
wright's  and  took  up  another  phase  of  himself  as  the 
topic  of  his  monologue. 


138 


CHAPTER  IX 

SOMEWHAT    CYCLONIC 

Margaret,  on  the  way  home  afoot  from  the  White 
House,  where  she  had  been  lunching  with  the  President's 
niece,  happened  upon  Craig  standing  with  his  hands 
behind  his  back  before  the  statue  of  Jackson.  He  was 
gazing  up  at  the  fierce  old  face  with  an  expression  so 
animated  that  passers-by  were  smiling  broadly.  She 
thought  he  was  wholly  absorbed;  but  when  she  was 
about  half-way  across  his  range  of  vision  he  hailed  her. 
"  I  say,  Miss  Severence ! "  he  cried  loudly. 

She  flushed  with  annoyance.  But  she  halted,  for  she 
knew  that  if  she  did  not  he  would  only  shout  at  her  and 
make  a  scene. 

"  I'll  walk  with  you,"  said  he,  joining  her  when  he 
saw  she  had  no  intention  of  moving  toward  him. 

"  Don't  let  me  draw  you  from  your  devotions,"  pro 
tested  she.     "  I'm  just  taking  a  car,  anyhow." 

"  Then  I'll  ride  home  with  you  and  walk  back.  I 
want  to  talk  with  a  woman  —  a  sensible  woman  —  not 
easy  to  find  in  this  town." 

139 


'ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Margaret  was  disliking  him,  his  manner  was  so  offen 
sively  familiar  and  patronizing  —  and  her  plans  con 
cerning  him  made  her  contemptuous  of  herself,  and 
therefore  resentful  against  him.  "  I'm  greatly  flattered," 
said  she. 

"  No,  you're  not.  But  you  ought  to  be.  I  suppose 
if  you  had  met  that  old  chap  on  the  pedestal  there  when 
he  was  my  age  you'd  have  felt  toward  him  much  as  you 
do  toward  me." 

"  And  I  suppose  he'd  have  been  just  about  as  much 
affected  by  it  as  you  are." 

"  Just  about.  It  was  a  good  idea,  planting  his 
statue  there  to  warn  the  fellow  that  happens  to  be  in 
the  White  House  not  to  get  too  cultured.  You  know 
it  was  because  the  gang  that  was  in  got  too  refined  and 
forgot  whom  this  country  belonged  to  that  old  Jackson 
was  put  in  office.  The  same  thing  will  happen  again." 

"  And  you'll  be  the  person  ?  "  suggested  Margaret 
with  a  smile  of  raillery. 

"  If  I  show  I'm  fit  for  the  job,"  replied  Craig  soberly. 
It  was  the  first  time  she  had  ever  heard  him  admit  a 
doubt  about  himself.  "  The  question  is,"  he  went  on, 
"  have  I  got  the  strength  of  character  and  the  cour 
age?  .  .  .  What  do  you  think  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  it,"  said  Margaret 
140 


SOMEWHAT   CYCLONIC 

with  polite  indifference.  "  There  comes  my  car.  I'll 
not  trouble  you  to  accompany  me."  She  put  out  her 
hand.  "  Goodby."  She  did  not  realize  it,  or  intend 
it,  but  she  had  appealed  to  one  of  his  powerful  instincts, 
a  powerful  instinct  in  all  predatory  natures  —  the  in 
stinct  to  pursue  whatever  seems  to  be  flying. 

He  shook  his  head  at  the  motorman,  who  was  bringing 
the  car  to  a  halt ;  the  car  went  on.  He  stood  in  front 
of  her.  Her  color  was  high,  but  she  could  not  resist 
the  steady  compulsion  of  his  eyes.  "  I  told  you  I 
wanted  to  talk  with  you,"  said  he.  "  Do  you  know  why 
I  was  standing  before  that  statue?  " 

"  I  do  not,"  Margaret  answered  coldly. 

"  I  was  trying  to  get  the  courage  to  ask  you  to  be 
my  wife." 

She  gave  a  queer  laugh.  "  Well,  you  seem  to  have 
got  what  you  sought,"  said  she.  He  had,  as  usual, 
taken  her  wholly  unawares. 

"  Not  so  fast,"  replied  Craig.  "  I  haven't  asked 
you  yet." 

Margaret  did  not  know  whether  she  most  wished 
to  laugh  or  to  burst  out  in  anger.  "  I'm  sure  I  don't 
care  anything  about  it,  one  way  or  the  other,"  said 
she. 

"  Why  say  those  insincere  things  —  to  me?  "  he 
141 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

urged.  She  had  begun  to  walk,  and  he  was  keeping  pace 
with  her.  "  Jackson,"  he  proceeded,  "  was  a  man  of 
absolute  courage.  He  took  the  woman  he  wanted  — 
defied  public  opinion  to  do  it  —  and  it  only  made  him 
the  more  popular.  I  had  always  intended  to  strengthen 
myself  by  marrying.  If  I  married  you  I'd  weaken  my 
self  politically,  while  if  I  married  some  Western  girl, 
some  daughter  of  the  people,  I'd  make  a  great  popular 
stroke." 

"Well  — do  it,  then,"  said  Margaret.  "By  all 
means  do  it." 

"  Oh,  but  there's  you,"  exclaimed  Craig.  "  What'd 
I  do  about  you  ?  " 

"  That's  true,"  said  Margaret  mockingly.  "  But 
what  am  I  to  stand  between  a  man  and  ambition  ?  " 

"  I  say  that  to  myself,"  replied  Craig.  "  But  it's  no 
use."  His  eyes  thrilled  her,  his  voice  seemed  to  melt  her 
dislike,  her  resolve,  as  he  said :  "  There  you  are,  and 
there  you  stay,  Margaret.  And  you're  not  at  all  fit 
to  be  my  wife.  You  haven't  been  brought  up  right. 
You  ought  to  marry  some  man  like  Grant.  He's  just 
the  man  for  you.  Why  did  you  ever  fall  in  love  with 
me?  " 

She  stopped  short,  stared  at  him  in  sheer  amazement. 
"  I !  "  exckimed  she.  "I  —  in  love  with  you!  " 

142 


SOMEWHAT   CYCLONIC 

He  halted  before  her.  "  Margaret,"  he  said  tenderly, 
"  can  you  deny  it?  " 

She  flushed;  hung  her  head.  The  indignant  denial 
died  upon  her  lips. 

He  sighed.  "  You  see,  it  is  fate,"  said  he.  "  But  I'll 
manage  it  somehow.  I'll  win  out  in  spite  of  any,  of 
every  handicap." 

She  eyed  him  furtively.  Yes,  if  she  wished  to  make 
a  marriage  of  ambition  she  could  not  do  better.  All 
Washington  was  laughing  at  him ;  but  she  felt  she  had 
penetrated  beneath  the  surface  that  excited  their  mirth  \ 
—  had  seen  qualities  that  would  carry  him  wherever  he 
wished  to  go  —  wherever  she,  with  her  grandmother's 
own  will,  wished  him  to  go. 

"  And,"  pursued  he,  "  I'm  far  too  rough  and  coarse 
for  you  —  you,  the  quintessence  of  aristocracy." 

She  flushed  with  double  delight  —  delight  at  this 
flattery  and  the  deeper  delight  a  woman  feels  when  a 
man  shows  her  the  weakness  in  himself  by  which  she  can 
reach  and  rule  him. 

"  I'm  always  afraid  of  offending  your  delicacy,"  he 
went  fatuously  on.  "  You're  the  only  person  I  ever 
felt  that  way  about.  Absolutely  the  only  one.  But 
you've  got  to  expect  that  sort  of  thing  in  a  man  who 
prevails  in  such  a  world  as  this.  When  men  get  too 

143 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

high-toned  and  aristocratic,  too  fussy  about  manners 
and  dress,  along  come  real  men  to  ride  them  down 
and  under.  But  I'll  try  to  be  everything  you  wish  — 
to  you.  Not  to  the  others.  That  would  defeat  our 
object;  for  I'm  going  to  take  my  wife  high  —  very 
high." 

Yes,  he  would  indeed  take  her  high  —  very  high. 
Now  that  what  she  wanted,  what  she  must  have,  was 
offering,  how  could  she  refuse?  They  were  crossing 
another  square  of  green.  He  drew  —  almost  dragged 
—  her  into  one  of  the  by-paths,  seized  her  in  his  arms, 
kissed  her  passionately.  "  I  can't  resist  you  —  I  can't !  " 
he  cried. 

"  Don't  —  don't !  "  she  murmured,  violently  agitated. 
"  Some  one  might  see !  " 

"  Some  one  is  seeing,  no  doubt,"  he  said,  his  breath 
coming  quickly,  a  look  that  was  primeval,  ferocious  al 
most,  in  his  eyes  as  they  devoured  her.  And,  despite 
her  protests  and  struggles,  she  was  again  in  those  sav 
age  arms  of  his,  was  again  shrinking  and  burning  and 
trembling  under  his  caresses.  She  flung  herself  away, 
sank  upon  a  bench,  burst  out  crying. 

"  What  is  it,  Margaret  ?  "  he  begged,  alarmed,  yet 
still  looking  as  if  he  would  seize  her  again. 

"  I  don't  know  —  I  don't  know,"  she  replied. 
144 


"  '  I  can't  resist  you — I  can't !  '  he  cried. 


SOMEWHAT   CYCLONIC 

Once  more  she  tried  to  tell  him  that  she  did  not  love 
him,  but  the  words  would  not  come.  She  felt  that  he 
would  not  believe  her;  indeed,  she  was  not  sure  of  her 
own  heart,  of  the  meaning  of  those  unprecedented  emo 
tions  that  had  risen  under  his  caresses,  and  that  stirred 
at  the  memory  of  them.  "  Perhaps  I  am  trying  to  love 
him,"  she  said  to  herself.  "  Anyhow,  I  must  marry  him. 
I  can  trifle  with  my  future  no  longer.  I  must  be  free 
of  this  slavery  to  grandmother.  I  must  be  free.  He  can 
free  me,  and  I  can  manage  him,  for  he  is  afraid  of  me." 

"  Did  I  hurt  you  ?  "  Craig  was  asking. 

She  nodded. 

"  I  am  so  sorry,"  he  exclaimed.  "  But  when  I  touched 
you  I  forgot  —  everything !  " 

She  smiled  gently  at  him.  "  I  didn't  dream  you  cared 
for  me,"  she  said. 

He  laughed  with  a  boisterousness  that  irritated  her. 
"  I'd  never  have  dared  tell  you,"  replied  he,  "  if  I  hadn't 
seen  that  you  cared  for  me." 

Her  nerves  winced,  but  she  contrived  to  make  her  tone 
passable  as  she  inquired:  "  Why  do  you  say  that?  " 

"  Oh  —  the  day  in  the  garden  —  the  day  I  came 
pleading  for  Grant.  I  saw  it  in  your  eyes  —  You 
remember." 

Margaret  could  not  imagine  what  he  had  misinter- 
145 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

preted  so  flatteringly  to  himself.  But  what  did  it  mat 
ter?  How  like  ironic  fate,  to  pierce  him  with  a  chance 
shaft  when  all  the  shafts  she  had  aimed  had  gone  astray ! 

She  was  startled  by  his  seizing  her  again.  At  his 
touch  she  flamed.  "  Don't !  "  she  cried  imperiously.  "  I 
don't  like  it !  " 

He  laughed,  held  her  the  more  tightly,  kissed  her  half 
a  dozen  times  squarely  upon  the  lips.  "  Not  that  tone 
to  me,"  said  he.  "  I  shall  kiss  you  when  I  please." 

She  was  furiously  angry;  but  again  her  nerves  were 
trembling,  were  responding  to  those  caresses,  and  even 
as  she  hated  him  for  violating  her  lips,  she  longed  for 
him  to  continue  to  violate  them.  She  started  up.  "  Let 
us  go,"  she  cried. 

He  glanced  at  his  watch.  "  I'll  have  to  put  you  in 
a  car,"  said  he.  "  I  forgot  all  about  my  appointment." 
And  he  fumed  with  impatience  while  she  was  adjusting 
her  hat  and  veil  pushed  awry  by  his  boisterous  love- 
making.  "  It's  the  same  old  story,"  he  went  on. 
"  Woman  weakens  man.  You  are  a  weakness  with  me 
—  one  that  will  cost  me  dear." 

She  burned  with  a  sense  of  insult.  She  hated  him, 
longed  to  pour  out  denunciations,  to  tell  him  just  what 
she  thought  of  him.  She  felt  a  contempt  for  herself 
deeper  than  her  revulsion  against  him.  In  silence  she 

146 


SOMEWHAT   CYCLONIC 

let  him  hurry  her  along  to  a  car ;  she  scarcely  heard  what 
he  was  saying  —  his  tactless,  angry  outburst  against 
himself  and  her  for  his  tardiness  at  that  important  ap 
pointment.  She  dropped  into  the  seat  with  a  gasp  of 
relief.  She  felt  she  must  —  for  form's  sake  —  merely 
for  form's  sake  —  glance  out  of  the  window  for  the 
farewell  he  would  be  certain  to  expect ;  she  must  do  her 
part,  now  that  she  had  committed  herself.  She  glanced ; 
he  was  rushing  away,  with  never  a  backward  look  —  or 
thought.  It  was  her  crowning  humiliation.  "  I'll  make 
him  pay  for  all  this,  some  day!"  she  said  to  herself,1^ 
shaking  with  anger,  her  grandmother's  own  temper  rag 
ing  cyclonically  within  her. 


147 


A  BELATED  PKOPOSAL 

Her  mood  —  outraged  against  Craig,  sullenly  deter 
mined  to  marry,  him,  angry  with  her  relatives,  her 
mother  no  less  than  her  grandmother,  because  they  were 
driving  her  to  these  desperate  measures  —  this  mood 
persisted,  became  intenser,  more  imperious  in  its  de 
mand  for  a  sacrifice  as  the  afternoon  wore  on.  When 
Grant  Arkwright  came,  toward  six  o'clock,  she  wel 
comed  him,  the  first-comer  bringing  her  the  longed-for 
chance  to  discharge  the  vials  of  her  wrath.  And  she 
noted  with  pleasure  that  he,  too,  was  in  a  black  humor. 
Before  she  could  begin  he  burst  forth: 

"  What's  this  that  Josh  Craig  has  been  telling  me  ? 
He  seems  to  have  gone  stark  mad ! " 

Margaret  eyed  him  with  icy  disdain.  "  If  there  is  any 
quality  that  can  be  called  the  most  repulsive,"  said  she, 
"  it  is  treachery.  You've  fallen  into  a  way  of  talking  of 
your  friend  Craig  behind  his  back  that's  unworthy  — 
perhaps  not  of  you,  but  certainly  of  the  person  you  pose 
as  being." 

148 


A    BELATED   PROPOSAL 

"  Did  you  propose  to  him  this  afternoon  ? "  de 
manded  Grant. 

Margaret  grew  cold  from  head  to  foot.  "  Does  he 
say  I  did?  "  she  succeeded  in  articulating. 

"  He  does.  He  was  so  excited  that  he  jumped  off  a 
car  and  held  me  an  hour  telling  me,  though  he  was  late 
for  one  of  those  important  conferences  he's  always  talk 
ing  about." 

Margaret  had  chosen  her  course.  "  Did  he  ask  you 
to  run  and  tell  me  he  had  told  you?  "  inquired  she,  with 
the  vicious  gleam  of  a  vicious  temper  in  her  fine  hazel 
eyes. 

"  No,"  admitted  Grant.  "  I  suppose  I've  no  right  to 
tell  you.  But  it  was  such  an  infernal  lie." 

"  Did  you  tell  him  so?  " 

Arkwright  grew  red. 

"  I  see  you  did  not,"  said  Margaret.  "  I  knew  you 
did  not.  Now,  let  me  tell  you,  I  don't  believe  Craig 
said  anything  of  the  kind.  A  man  who'd  betray  a  friend 
is  quite  capable  of  lying  about  him." 

"  Margaret !  Rita  Severence !  "  Grant  started  up, 
set  down  his  teacup,  stood  looking  down  at  her,  his  face 
white  to  the  lips.  "  Your  tone  is  not  jest;  it  is  insult." 

"  It  was  so  intended."  Margaret's  eyes  were  upon 
him,  her  grandmother's  own  favorite  expression  in  them. 

149 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Now  that  she  was  no  longer  a  matrimonial  offering  she 
felt  profoundly  indifferent  to  eligible  men,  rejoiced  in 
her  freedom  to  act  toward  them  as  she  wished.  "  I  do 
not  permit  any  one  to  lie  to  me  about  the  man  I  have 
engaged  to  marry." 

"  What !  "  shouted  Grant.     "  It  was  true?  " 

"  Go  out  into  the  garden  and  try  to  calm  yourself, 
Grant,"  said  the  girl  haughtily.  "  And  if  you  can't, 
why  —  take  yourself  off  home.  And  don't  come  back 
until  you  are  ready  to  apologize." 

"  Rita,  why  didn't  you  give  me  a  hint?  I'd  have  mar 
ried  you  myself.  I'm  willing  to  do  it.  ...  Rita, 
will  you  marry  me  ?  " 

Margaret  leaned  back  upon  the  sofa  and  laughed  un 
til  his  blood  began  to  run  alternately  hot  and  cold. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  stammered.  "  I  did  not 
realize  how  it  sounded.  Only  —  you  know  how  things 
are  with  our  sort  of  people.  And,  as  men  go,  I  can't 
help  knowing  I'm  what's  called  a  catch,  and  that  you're 
looking  for  a  suitable  husband.  ...  As  it's  ap 
parently  a  question  of  him  or  me,  and  as  you've  ad 
mitted  you  got  him  by  practically  proposing —  .  .  . 
Damn  it  all,  Rita,  I  want  you,  and  I'm  not  going  to 
let  such  a  man  as  he  is  have  you.  I  never  dreamed  you'd 
bother  with  him  seriously  or  I'd  not  have  been  so  slow." 

150 


A   BELATED   PROPOSAL 

Margaret  was  leaning  back,  looking  up  at  him.  "  I've 
sunk  even  lower  than  I  thought,"  she  said,  bring 
ing  to  an  end  the  painful  silence  which  followed  this 
speech. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Rita?  " 

She  laughed  cynically,  shrugged  her  shoulders. 
First,  Craig's  impudent  assumption  that  she  loved  him, 
and  his  rude  violation  of  her  lips ;  now,  this  frank  in 
solence  of  insult,  the  more  savage  that  it  was  uncon 
scious  —  and  from  the  oldest  and  closest  of  her  men 
friends.  If  one  did  not  die  under  such  outrages,  but 
continued  to  live  and  let  live,  one  could  save  the  situa 
tion  only  by  laughing.  So,  Margaret  laughed  —  and 
Arkwright  shivered. 

"  For  God's  sake,  Rita !  "  he  cried.  "  I'd  not  have  be 
lieved  that  lips  so  young  and  fresh  as  yours  could  utter 
such  a  cynical  sound." 

She  looked  at  him  with  disdainful,  derisive  eyes.  "  It's 
fortunate  for  me  that  I  have  a  sense  of  humor,"  said 
she.  "  And  for  you,"  she  added. 

"  But  I  am  in  earnest,  I  mean  it  —  every  word  I 
said." 

"  That's  just  it,"  replied  she.  "  You  meant  it  — 
every  word." 

"  You  will  marry  me?  " 

151 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  I  will  not." 

"Why?" 

"  For  several  reasons.  For  instance,  I  happen  to  be 
engaged  to  another  man." 

"  That  is  —  nothing."    He  snapped  his  fingers. 

She  elevated  her  brows.    "  Nothing?  " 

"  He'd  not  keep  his  promise  to  you  if  —  In  fact, 
he  was  debating  with  me  whether  or  not  he'd  back 
down." 

"  Either  what  you  say  is  false,"  said  she  evenly,  "  or 
you  are  betraying  the  confidence  of  a  friend  who  trusted 
in  your  honor." 

"  Oh,  he  said  it,  all  right.  You  know  how  he  is  about 
confidences." 

"  No  matter." 

Margaret  rose  slowly,  a  gradual  lifting  of  her  long, 
supple  figure.  Grant  watching,  wondered  why  he  had 
never  before  realized  that  the  sensuous  charm  of  her 
beauty  was  irresistible.  "  Where  were  my  eyes  ?  "  he 
asked  himself.  "  She's  beyond  any  of  the  women  I've 
wasted  so  much  time  on." 

She  was  saying  with  quiet  deliberateness :  "  A  few 
days  ago,  Grant,  I'd  have  jumped  at  your  offer  —  to 
be  perfectly  frank.  Why  shouldn't  I  be  frank!  I'm 
sick  of  cowardly  pretenses  and  lies.  I  purpose  hence- 

152 


A    BELATED   PROPOSAL 

forth  to  be  myself  —  almost."  A  look  within  and 
a  slightly  derisive  smile.  "  Almost.  I  shall  hesitate 
and  trifle  no  longer.  I  shall  marry  your  friend 
Craig." 

"  You'll  do  nothing  of  the  kind,"  raged  Arkwright. 
"  If  you  make  it  necessary  I'll  tell  him  why  you're 
marrying  him." 

"  You  may  do  as  you  like  about  that,"  replied  she. 
"  He'll  probably  understand  why  you  are  trying  to 
break  off  our  engagement." 

"  You're  very  confident  of  your  power  over  him," 
taunted  he. 

She  saw  again  Craig's  face  as  he  was  kissing  her. 
"  Very,"  replied  she. 

"  You'll  see.     It's  a  mere  physical  attraction." 

She  smiled  tantalizingly,  her  long  body  displayed 
against  the  window-casing,  her  long,  round  arms  bare 
below  the  elbows,  her  hazel  eyes  and  sensuous  lips  allur 
ing.  "  You,  yourself,  never  thought  of  proposing  to 
me  until  I  had  made  myself  physically  attractive  to 
you,"  said  she.  "  Now  —  have  I  power  over  you,  or 
not?" 

She  laughed  as  his  color  mounted,  and  the  look  she 
had  seen  in  Craig's  eyes  blazed  out  in  his. 

"  How  little  physical  charm  you  have  for  me,"  she 
153 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

went  on.  "  Beside  Craig  you're  like  an  electric  fan  in 
competition  with  a  storm-wind.  Now,  Craig — "  She 
closed  her  eyes  and  drew  a  long  breath. 

Arkwright  gnawed  his  lip.  "  What  a  —  a  devil  you 
are!  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  I  wonder  why  it  is  a  woman  never  becomes  desir 
able  to  some  men  until  they  find  she's  desired  elsewhere," 
she  went  on  reflectively.  "  What  a  lack  of  initiative. 
What  timidity.  What  an  absence  of  originality.  If  I 
had  nothing  else  against  you,  Grant,  I'd  never  forgive 
you  for  having  been  so  long  blind  to  my  charms  —  you 
and  these  other  men  of  our  set  who'll  doubtless  be 
clamorous  now." 

"  If  you'd  been  less  anxious  to  please,"  suggested 
he  bitterly,  "  and  more  courageous  about  being  your 
own  real  self,  you'd  not  have  got  yourself  into  this 
mess." 

"  Ah  —  but  that  wasn't  my  fault,"  replied  she  ab 
sently.  "  It  was  the  fault  of  my  training.  Ever  since 
I  can  remember  I've  been  taught  to  be  on  my  guard,  lest 
the  men  shouldn't  like  me."  In  her  new  freedom  she 
looked  back  tranquilly  upon  the  struggle  she  was  at  last 
emancipated  from,  and  philosophized  about  it.  "  What 
a  mistake  mothers  make  in  putting  worry  about  getting 
a  husband  into  their  daughters'  heads.  Believe  me, 


A   BELATED   PROPOSAL 

Grant,  that  dread  makes  wretched  what  ought  to  be  the 
happiest  time  of  a  girl's  life." 

"  Rita,"  he  pleaded,  "  stop  this  nonsense,  and  say, 
you'll  marry  me." 

"  No,  thanks,"  said  she.  "  I've  chosen.  And  I'm  well 
content." 

She  gave  him  a  last  tantalizing  look  and  went  out  on 
the  veranda,  to  go  along  it  to  the  outdoor  stairway. 
Arkwright  gazed  after  her  through  a  fierce  conflict  of 
emotions.  Was  she  really  in  earnest?  Could  it  be  pos 
sible  that  Josh  Craig  had  somehow  got  a  hold  over  her? 
"  Or,  is  it  that  she  doesn't  trust  me,  thinks  I'd  back 
down  if  she  were  to  throw  him  over  and  rely  on  me?  " 
No,  there  was  something  positively  for  Craig  in  her 
tone  and  expression.  She  was  really  intending  to  marry 
him.  Grant  shuddered.  "  If  she  only  realized  what 
marrying  a  man  of  that  sort  means ! "  he  exclaimed, 
half  aloud.  "  But  she  doesn't.  Only  a  woman  who 
has  been  married  can  appreciate  what  sort  of  a  hell 
for  sensitive  nerves  and  refined  tastes  marriage  can 
be  made." 

"Ah  — Mr.  Arkwright!" 

At  this  interruption  in  a  woman's  voice  —  the  voice 
he  disliked  and  dreaded  above  all  others  —  he  startled 
and  turned  to  face  old  Madam  Bowker  in  rustling  black 

155 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

silk,  with  haughty  casque  of  gray-white  hair  and  ebon 
staff  carried  firmly,  well  forward.  Grant  bowed.  "  How 
d'ye  do,  Mrs.  Bowker?  "  said  he  with  respectful  defer 
ence.  What  he  would  have  thought  was  the  impossible 
had  come  to  pass.  He  was  glad  to  see  her.  "  She'll  put 
an  end  to  this  nonsense  —  this  nightmare,"  said  he  to 
himself. 

Madam  Bowker  had  Williams,  the  butler,  and  a  maid 
servant  in  her  train.  She  halted,  gazed  round  the  room ; 
she  pointed  with  the  staff  to  the  floor  a  few  feet  from  the 
window  and  a  little  back.  "  Place  my  chair  there,"  com 
manded  she. 

The  butler  and  the  maid  hastened  to  move  a  large 
carved  and  gilded  chair  to  the  indicated  spot.  Madam 
Bowker  seated  herself  with  much  ceremony. 

"  Now !  "  said  she.  "  We  will  rearrange  the  room. 
Bring  that  sofa  from  the  far  corner  to  the  other  side  of 
this  window,  and  put  the  tea-table  in  front  of  it.  Put 
two  chairs  where  the  sofa  was;  arrange  the  other 
chairs  — "  And  she  indicated  the  places  with  her  staff. 

While  the  room  was  still  in  confusion  Mrs.  Severence 
entered.  "  What  is  it,  Mamma  ?  "  she  asked. 

*'  Simply  trying  to  make  this  frightful  room  a  little 
less  frightful." 

"  Don't  you  think  the  pictures  should  be  rehung  to 
156 


A    BELATED   PROPOSAL 

suit  the  new  arrangement,  ma'am? "  suggested  Ark- 
wright. 

Madam  Bowker,  suspicious  of  jest,  looked  sharply 
at  him.  He  seemed  serious.  "  You  are  right,"  said 
she. 

"  But  people  will  be  coming  in  a  few  minutes," 
pleaded  Roxana. 

"  Then  to-morrow,"  said  Madam  Bowker  reluctantly. 
"  That  will  do,  Williams  —  that  will  do,  Betty.  And, 
Betty,  you  must  go  at  once  and  make  yourself  neat. 
You've  had  on  that  cap  two  days." 

"  No,  indeed,  ma'am !  "  protested  Betty. 

"  Then  it  was  badly  done  up.  Roxana,  how  can  you 
bear  to  live  in  such  a  slovenly  way?  " 

"Will  you  have  tea  now,  Mamma?"  was  Roxana's 
diplomatic  reply. 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  old  lady. 

"  Tea,  Mr.  Arkwright?  " 

"  Thanks,  no,  Mrs.  Severence.  I'm  just  going.  I 
merely  looked  in  to  —  to  congratulate  Rita." 

Madam  Bowker  clutched  her  staff.  "  To  congrat 
ulate  my  granddaughter?  Upon  what,  pray?  " 

Arkwright  simulated  a  look  of  surprise.  "  Upon  her 
engagement." 

"  Her  what?  "  demanded  the  old  lady,  while  Roxana 
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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

sat  holding  a  lump  of  sugar  suspended  between  bowl 
and  cup. 

"  Her  engagement  to  Josh  Craig." 

"  No  such  thing ! "  declared  the  old  lady  instantly. 
"  Really,  sir,  it  is  disgraceful  that  my  granddaughter's 
name  should  be  associated  in  any  connection  with  such  a 
person." 

Here  Margaret  entered  the  room  by  the  French  win 
dows  by  which  she  had  left.  She  advanced  slowly  and 
gracefully,  amid  a  profound  silence.  Just  as  she 
reached  the  tea-table  her  grandmother  said  in  a  terrible 
voice :  "  Margaret !  " 

"  Yes,  Grandmother,"  responded  Margaret  smoothly, 
without  looking  at  her. 

"  Mr.  Arkwright  here  has  brought  in  a  scandalous 
story  about  your  being  engaged  to  that  —  that  Josh 
person  —  the  clerk  in  one  of  the  departments.  Do  you 
know  him?  " 

"  Yes,  Grandma.    But  not  very  well." 

Madam  Bowker  glanced  triumphantly  at  Arkwright; 
he  was  gazing  amazedly  at  Margaret. 

"  You  see,  Grant,"  said  Roxana,  with  her  foolish, 
pleasant  laugh,  "  there  is  nothing  in  it." 

"  In  what  ?  "  asked  Margaret  innocently,  emptying 
the  hot  water  from  her  cup. 

158 


A    BELATED   PROPOSAL 

"  In  the  story  of  your  engagement,  dear,"  said  her 
mother. 

"  Oh,  yes,  there  is,"  replied  Margaret  with  a  smiling 
lift  of  her  brows.  "  It's  quite  true."  Then,  suddenly 
drawing  herself  up,  she  wheeled  on  Grant  with  a  frown 
as  terrible  as  her  grandmother's  own.  "  Be  off ! "  she 
said  imperiously. 

Arkwright  literally  shrank  from  the  room.  As  he 
reached  the  door  he  saw  her  shiver  and  heard  her  mutter, 
"Reptile!" 


159 


CHAPTER  XI 

MADAM  BOWKEE  HEAES  THE  NEWS 

In  the  midst  of  profound  hush  Madam  Bowker  was 
charging  her  heavy  artillery,  to  train  it  upon  and  de 
molish  the  engagement  certainly,  and  probably  Mar 
garet,  too.  Just  as  she  was  about  to  open  fire  callers 
were  ushered  in.  As  luck  had  it  they  were  the  three 
Stillwater  girls,  hastily  made-over  Westerners,  dressed 
with  great  show  of  fashion  in  what  purported  to  be 
imported  French  hats  and  gowns.  An  expert  eye,  how 
ever,  would  instantly  have  pierced  the  secret  of  this 
formidable  array  of  plumes  and  furbelows.  The  Still- 
waters  fancied  they  had  exquisite  taste  and  real  genius  in 
the  art  of  dress.  Those  hats  were  made  at  home,  were 
adaptations  of  the  imported  hats  — adaptations  of  the 
kind  that  "  see  "  the  original  and  "  go  it  a  few  better." 
As  for  the  dresses,  the  Stillwaters  had  found  one  of 
those  treasures  dear  to  a  certain  kind  of  woman,  had 
found  a  "  woman  just  round  the  corner,  and  not  estab 
lished  yet " — "  I  assure  you,  my  dear,  she  takes  a  men 
tal  picture  of  the  most  difficult  dress  to  copy,  and  you'd 

160 


MADAM   HEARS   THE   NEWS 

never  know  hers  from  the  original  —  and  so  reason 
able!" 

In  advance  came  Molly  Stillwater,  the  youngest  and 
prettiest  and  the  most  aggressively  dressed  because  her 
position  as  family  beauty  made  it  incumbent  upon  her 
to  lead  the  way  in  fashion.  As  soon  as  the  greetings 
were  over  —  cold,  indeed,  f  rom  Madam  Bowker,  hys 
terical  from  Roxana  —  Molly  gushed  out :  "  Just  as 
we  left  home,  Josh  Craig  came  tearing  in.  If  possible, 
madder  than  a  hatter  —  yes  —  really  — "  Molly  was 
still  too  young  to  have  learned  to  control  the  mechanism 
of  her  mouth ;  thus,  her  confused  syntax  seemed  the  re 
sult  of  the  alarming  and  fascinating  contortions  of  her 
lips  and  tongue  — "  and,  when  we  told  him  where  we 
were  going  he  shouted  out,  *  Give  Rita  my  love.'  *' 

Margaret  penetrated  to  the  purpose  to  anger  her 
against  Craig.  Was  not  Craig  intended  by  Mrs.  Still- 
water  for  Jessie,  the  eldest  and  only  serious  one  of  the 
three?  And  was  not  his  conduct,  his  hanging  about 
Margaret  and  his  shying  off  from  Jessie,  thoroughly  up 
on  public  questions  and  competent  to  discuss  them  with 
anybody  —  was  not  his  conduct  most  menacing  to  her 
plans?  Mrs.  Stillwater,  arranging  for  matrimony  for 
all  her  daughters,  had  decided  that  Jess  was  hopeless  ex 
cept  as  a  "  serious  woman,"  since  she  had  neither  figure 

161 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

nor  face,  nor  even  abundant  hair,  which  alone  is  enough 
to  entangle  some  men.  So,  Jess  had  been  set  to  work  at 
political  economy,  finance,  at  studying  up  the  political 
situations ;  and,  if  started  right  and  not  interfered  with, 
she  could  give  as  good  account  of  her  teaching  as  any 
phonograph. 

Margaret  welcomed  Molly's  message  from  Craig  with 
a  sweet  smile.  An  amused  glance  at  the  thunderous 
face  of  her  grandmother,  and  she  said,  "  Perhaps  it 
would  interest  you,  dear,  to  know  that  he  and  I  are 
engaged." 

What  could  Madam  Bowker  say?  What  could  she 
do?  Obviously,  nothing.  The  three  Stillwaters  became 
hysterical.  Their  comments  and  congratulations  were 
scraps  of  disjointed  nonsense,  and  they  got  away  under 
cover  of  more  arrivals,  in  as  great  disorder  as  if  the 
heavy  guns  Madam  Bowker  had  stacked  to  the  brim  for 
Margaret  had  accidentally  discharged  into  them. 
Madam  Bowker  could  wait  no  longer.  "  Margaret," 
said  she,  "  help  me  to  my  carriage." 

Mrs.  Severence  gave  her  difficult  daughter  an  appeal 
ing  glance,  as  if  she  feared  the  girl  would  cap  the 
climax  of  rebellion  by  flatly  refusing ;  but  Margaret  said 
sweetly : 

"Yes,  Grandma." 

162 


MADAM  HEARS   THE   NEWS 

The  two  left  the  room,  the  old  lady  leaning  heavily 
on  her  granddaughter  and  wielding  her  ebony  staff  as  if 
getting  her  arm  limbered  to  use  it.  In  the  hall,  she 
said  fiercely,  "  To  your  room,"  and  waved  her  staff  to 
ward  the  stairway. 

Margaret  hesitated,  shrugged  her  shoulders.  She 
preceding,  and  Madam  Bowker  ascending  statelily  after 
ward,  they  went  up  and  were  presently  alone  in  Mar 
garet's  pretty  rose  and  gold  boudoir,  with  the  outer 
door  closed. 

"  Now !  "  exclaimed  Madam  Bowker. 

"  Not  so  loud,  please,"  suggested  the  tranquil  Mar 
garet,  "  unless  you  wish  Selina  to  hear."  She  pointed 
to  the  door  ajar.  "  She's  sewing  in  there." 

"  Send  the  woman  away,"  commanded  the  old  lady. 

But  Margaret  merely  closed  the  door.  "  Well,  Grand 
mother?  " 

"  Sit  at  this  desk,"  ordered  the  old  lady,  point 
ing  with  the  ebony  staff,  "  and  write  a  note  to  that 
man  Craig,  breaking  the  engagement.  Say  you  have 
thought  it  over  and  have  decided  it  is  quite  impossible. 
And  to-morrow  morning  you  go  to  New  York  with 
me." 

Margaret  seated  herself  on  the  lounge  instead.  "  I'll 
do  neither,"  said  she. 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

The  old  lady  waved  the  end  of  her  staff  in  a  gesture 
of  lofty  disdain.  "  As  you  please.  But,  if  you  do  not, 
your  allowance  is  withdrawn." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Margaret.     "  I  assumed  that." 

Madam  Bowker  gazed  at  her  with  eyes  like  tongues 
of  flame.  "And  how  do  you  expect  to  live?"  she  in 
quired. 

"  That  is  our  affair,"  replied  the  girl.  "  You  say 
you  are  done  with  me.  Well,  so  am  I  done  with  you." 

It  was,  as  Margaret  had  said,  because  she  was  not 
afraid  of  her  grandmother  that  that  formidable  old  lady 
respected  her ;  and  as  she  was  one  of  those  who  can  give 
affection  only  where  they  give  respect,  she  loved  Mar 
garet —  loved  her  with  jealous  and  carping  tenacity. 
The  girl's  words  of  finality  made  her  erect  and  unyield 
ing  soul  shiver  in  a  sudden  dreary  blast  of  loneliness, 
that  most  tragic  of  all  the  storms  that  sweep  the  ways 
of  life.  It  was  in  the  tone  of  the  anger  of  love  with 
the  beloved  that  she  cried,  "  How  dare  you  engage  your 
self  to  such  a  person  !  " 

"  You  served  notice  on  me  that  I  must  marry,"  re 
plied  the  girl,  her  own  tone  much  modified.  "  He  was 
the  chance  that  offered." 

"  The  chance !  "  Madam  Bowker  smiled  with  caustic 
scorn.  "  He's  not  a  chance." 

164 


MADAM  HEARS   THE   NEWS 

"  You  ordered  me  to  marry.  I  am  marrying.  And 
you  are  violating  your  promise.  But  I  expected  it." 

"  My  promise?     What  do  you  mean?  " 

"  You  told  me  if  I'd  marry  you'd  continue  my  allow 
ance  after  marriage.  You  even  hinted  you'd  increase 
it." 

"  But  this  is  no  marriage.  I  should  consider  a  con 
nection  between  such  a  man  and  a  Severence  as  a  mere 
vulgar  intrigue.  You  might  as  well  run  away  with  a 
coachman.  I  have  known  few  coachmen  so  ill-bred  — 
so  repellent  —  as  this  Craig." 

Margaret  laughed  cheerfully.  "  He  isn't  what  you'd 
call  polished,  is  he?  " 

Her  grandmother  studied  her  keenly.  "  Margaret," 
she  finally  said,  "  this  is  some  scheme  of  yours.  You  are 
using  this  engagement  to  help  you  to  something  else." 

"  I  refused  Grant  Arkwright  just  before  you  came." 

"  You  —  refused  —  Arkwright  ?  " 

"  My  original  plan  was  to  trap  Grant  by  making 
him  jealous  of  Craig.  But  I  abandoned  it." 

"And  why?" 

"  A  remnant  of  decency." 

"  I  doubt  it,"  said  the  old  lady. 

"  So  should  I  in  the  circumstances.  We're  a  pretty 
queer  lot,  aren't  we  ?  You,  for  instance  —  on  the  verge 

165 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

of  the  grave,  and  breaking  your  promise  to  me  as  if  a 
promise  were  nothing." 

Mrs.  Bowker*s  ebon  staff  twitched  convulsively  and 
her  terrible  eyes  were  like  the  vent-holes  of  internal  fires  ; 
but  she  managed  her  rage  with  a  skill  that  was  high 
tribute  to  her  will-power.  "  You  are  right  in  selecting 
this  clown  —  this  tag-rag,"  said  she.  "  You  and  he,  I 
see,  are  peculiarly  suited  to  each  other.  .  .  .  My 
only  regret  is  that  in  my  blind  affection  I  have  wasted 
all  these  years  and  all  those  thousands  of  dollars  on 
you."  Madam  Bowker  affected  publicly  a  fine  scorn  of 
money  and  all  that  thereto  appertained;  but  privately 
she  was  a  true  aristocrat  in  her  reverence  and  considera 
tion  for  that  which  is  the  bone  and  blood  of  aristoc 
racy. 

"  Nothing  so  stupid  and  silly  as  regret,"  said  Mar 
garet,  with  placid  philosophy  of  manner.  "  I,  too, 
could  think  of  things  I  regret.  But  I'm  putting  my 
whole  mind  on  the  future." 

"  Future !  "  Madam  Bowker  laughed.  "  Why,  my 
child,  you  have  no  future.  Within  two  years  you'll 
either  be  disgracefully  divorced,  or  the  wife  of  a  little 
lawyer  in  a  little  Western  town." 

"  But  I'll  have  my  husband  and  my  children.  What 
more  can  a  woman  ask  ?  " 

166 


MADAM  HEARS   THE   NEWS 

The  old  lady  scrutinized  her  granddaughter's  tran 
quil,  delicate  face  in  utter  amazement.  She  could  find 
nothing  on  which  to  base  a  hope  that  the  girl  was  either 
jesting  or  posing.  "  Margaret,"  she  cried,  "  are  you 
crazy?  " 

"Do  you  think  a  desire  for  a  home,  and  a  husband 
who  adores  one,  and  children  whom  one  adores  is  evi 
dence  of  insanity  ?  " 

"  Yes,  you  are  mad  —  quite  mad !  " 

"  I  suppose  you  think  that  fretting  about  all  my  sea 
sons  without  an  offer  worth  accepting  has  driven  me  out 
of  my  senses.  Sometimes  I  think  so,  too."  And  Mar 
garet  lapsed  into  abstracted,  dreamy  silence. 

"  Do  you  pretend  that  you  —  you  —  care  for  —  this 
person?  "  inquired  the  old  lady. 

"  I  can't  discuss  him  with  you,  Grandmother,"  replied 
the  girl.  "  You  know  you  have  washed  your  hands  of 
me." 

"  I  shall  never  give  up,"  cried  the  old  lady  vehemently, 
"  until  I  rescue  you.  I'll  not  permit  this  disgrace.  I'll 
have  him  driven  out  of  Washington." 

"  Yes,  you  might  try  that,"  said  Margaret.  "  I  don't 
want  him  to  stay  here.  I  am  sick  —  sick  to  death  —  of 
all  this.  I  loathe  everything  I  ever  liked.  It  almost 
seems  to  me  I'd  prefer  living  in  a  cabin  in  the  back- 

167 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

woods.  I've  just  wakened  to  what  it  really  means  —  no 
love,  no  friendship,  only  pretense  and  show,  rivalry  in 
silly  extravagance,  aimless  running  to  and  fro  among 
people  that  care  nothing  for  one,  and  that  one  cares 
nothing  for.  If  you  could  see  it  as  I  see  it  you'd  under 
stand." 

But  Madam  Bowker  had  thought  all  her  life  in  terms 
of  fashion  and  society.  She  was  not  in  the  least  im 
pressed.  "Balderdash!"  said  she  with  a  jab  at  the 
floor  with  the  ebony  staff.  "  Don't  pose  before  me. 
You  know  very  well  you're  marrying  this  man  because 
you  believe  he  will  amount  to  a  great  deal." 

Margaret  beamed  upon  her  grandmother  triumphant 
ly,  as  if  she  had  stepped  into  a  trap  that  had  been  set 
for  her.  "  And  your  only  reason  for  being  angry," 
cried  she,  "  is  that  you  don't  believe  he  will." 

"  I  know  he  won't.  He  can't.  Stillwater  has  kept 
him  solely  because  that  unspeakable  wife  of  his  hopes 
to  foist  their  dull,  ugly  eldest  girl  on  him." 

"  You  think  a  man  as  shrewd  as  Stillwater  would 
marry  his  daughter  to  a  nobody  ?  " 

"  It's  useless  for  you  to  argue,  Margaret,"  snapped 
the  old  lady.  "  The  man's  impossible  —  for  a  Sever- 
ence.  I  shall  stop  the  engagement." 

"  You  can't,"  rejoined  Margaret  calmly.  "  My  mind 
168 


MADAM   HEARS   THE   NEWS 

is  made  up.     And  along  with    several    other   qualities, 
Grandmother,  dear,  I've  inherited  your  will." 

"Will  without  wit  —  is  there  anything  worse?  But 
I  know  you  are  not  serious.  It  is  merely  a  mood  —  the 
result  of  a  profound  discouragement.  My  dear  child, 
let  me  assure  you  it  is  no  unusual  thing  for  a  girl  of 
your  position,  yet  without  money,  to  have  no  offers  at 
all.  You  should  not  believe  the  silly  lies  your  girl 
friends  tell  about  having  bushels  of  offers.  No  girl  has 
bushels  of  offers  unless  she  makes  herself  common  and 
familiar  with  all  kinds  of  men  —  and  takes  their  loose 
talk  seriously.  Most  men  wouldn't  dare  offer  themselves 
to  you.  The  impudence  of  this  Craig!  You  should 
have  ordered  him  out  of  your  presence." 

Margaret,  remembering  how  Craig  had  seized  her, 
smiled. 

"  I  admit  I  have  been  inconsiderate  in  urging  you  so 
vigorously,"  continued  her  grandmother.  "  I  thought 
I  had  observed  a  tendency  to  fritter.  I  wished  you  to 
stop  trifling  with  Grant  Arkwright  —  or,  rather,  to 
stop  his  trifling  with  you.  Come,  now,  my  dear,  let  me 
put  an  end  to  this  engagement.  And  you  will  marry 
Grant,  and  your  future  will  be  bright  and  assured." 

Margaret  shook  her  head.  "  I  have  promised,"  said 
she,  and  her  expression  would  have  thrilled  Lucia. 

169 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Madam  Bowker  was  singularly  patient  with  this  evi 
dence  of  sentimentalism.  "  That's  fine  and  noble  of 
you.  But  you  didn't  realize  what  a  grave  step  you  were 
taking,  and  you  — " 

"  Yes,  but  I  did.  If  ever  anything  was  deliberate  on 
a  woman's  part,  that  engagement  was."  A  bright  spot 
burned  in  each  of  the  girl's  cheeks.  "  He  didn't  really 
propose.  I  pretended  to  misunderstand  him." 

Her  grandmother  stared. 

"  You  needn't  look  at  me  like  that,"  exclaimed  Mar 
garet.  "  You  know  very  well  that  Grandfather  Bowker 
never  would  have  married  you  if  you  hadn't  fairly  com 
pelled  him.  I  heard  him  tease  you  about  it  once  when 
I  was  a  little  girl." 

It  was  Madam  Bowker's  turn  to  redden.  She  deigned 
to  smile.  "  Men  are  so  foolish,"  observed  she,  "  that 
women -often  have  to  guide  them.  There  would  be  few 
marriages  of  the  right  sort  if  the  men  were  not  man- 


Margaret  nodded  assent.  "  I  realize  that  now,"  said 
she.  Earnestly :  "  Grandmother,  try  to  make  the  best 
of  this  engagement  of  mine.  When  a  woman,  a  woman 
as  experienced  and  sensible  as  I  am,  makes  up  her  mind 
a  certain  man  is  the  man  for  her,  is  it  wise  to  interfere?  " 

Madam  Bowker,  struck  by  the  searching  wisdom  of 
170 


MADAM  HEARS   THE   NEWS 

this  remark,  was  silenced  for  the  moment.  In  the  inter 
val  of  thought  she  reflected  that  she  would  do  well  to 
take  counsel  of  herself  alone  in  proceeding  to  break  this 
engagement.  "  You  are  on  the  verge  of  making  a  ter 
rible  misstep,  child,"  said  she  with  a  gentleness  she  had 
rarely  shown  even  to  her  favorite  grandchild.  "  I  shall 
think  it  over,  and  you  will  think  it  over.  At  least, 
promise  me  you  will  not  see  Craig  for  a  few  days." 

Margaret  hesitated.  Her  grandmother,  partly  by 
this  unusual  gentleness,  partly  by  inducing  the  calmer 
reflection  of  the  second  thought,  had  shaken  her  purpose 
more  than  she  would  have  believed  possible.  "  If  I've 
made  a  mistake,"  said  she,  "  isn't  seeing  him  the  best 
way  to  realize  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  instantly  and  emphatically  admitted  the  acute 
old  lady.  "  See  him,  by  all  means.  See  as  much  of  him 
as  possible.  And  in  a  few  days  you  will  be  laughing  at 
yourself  —  and  very  much  ashamed." 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Margaret  aloud,  but  chiefly  to  her 
self. 

And  Madam  Bowker,  seeing  the  doubt  in  her  face, 
only  a  faint  reflection  of  the  doubt  that  must  be  within, 
went  away  content. 


171 


CHAPTER  XII 

PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

Margaret  made  it  an  all  but  inflexible  rule  not  to 
go  out,  but  to  rest  and  repair  one  evening  in  each  week ; 
that  was  the  evening,  under  the  rule,  but  she  would  have 
broken  the  rule  had  any  opportunity  offered.  Of 
course,  for  the  first  time  since  the  season  began,  no  one 
sent  or  telephoned  to  ask  her  to  fill  in  at  the  last  mo 
ment.  She  half -expected  Craig,  though  she  knew  he 
was  to  be  busy;  he  neither  came  nor  called  up.  She 
dined  moodily  with  the  family,  sat  surlily  in  a  corner 
of  the  veranda  until  ten  o'clock,  hid  herself  in  bed.  She 
feared  she  would  have  a  sleepless  night.  But  she  had 
eaten  no  dinner;  and,  as  indigestion  is  about  the  only 
thing  that  will  keep  a  healthy  human  being  awake,  she 
slept  dreamlessly,  soundly,  not  waking  until  Selina 
slowly  and  softly  opened  the  inner  blinds  of  her  bedroom 
at  eight  the  next  morning. 

There  are  people  who  are  wholly  indifferent  about 
their  surroundings,  and  lead  the  life  dictated  by  civilized 
custom  only  because  they  are  slaves  of  custom.  Mar- 

172 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

garet  was  not  one  of  these.  She  not  only  adopted  all 
the  comforts  and  luxuries  that  were  current,  she  also 
spent  much  time  in  thinking  out  new  luxuries,  new  re 
finements  upon  those  she  already  had.  She  was  through 
and  through  the  luxurious  idler;  she  made  of  idling  a 
career  —  pursued  it  with  intelligent  purpose  where 
others  simply  drifted,  yawning  when  pastimes  were  not 
provided  for  them.  She  was  as  industrious  and  in 
genious  at  her  career  as  a  Craig  at  furthering  himself 
and  his  ideas  in  a  public  career. 

Like  the  others  of  her  class  she  left  the  care  of  her 
mind  to  chance.  As  she  had  a  naturally  good  mind  and 
a  bird-like  instinct  for  flitting  everywhere,  picking  out 
the  food  from  the  chaff,  she  made  an  excellent  showing 
even  in  the  company  of  serious  people.  But  that  was 
accident.  Her  person  was  her  real  care.  To  her  lux 
urious,  sensuous  nature  every  kind  of  pleasurable  physi 
cal  sensation  made  keen  appeal,  and  she  strove  in  every 
way  to  make  it  keener.  She  took  the  greatest  care  of 
her  health,  because  health  meant  beauty  and  every  nerve 
and  organ  in  condition  to  enjoy  to  its  uttermost  ca 
pacity. 

Because  of  this  care  it  was  often  full  three  hours  and 
a  half  between  the  entrance  of  Selina  and  her  own  exit, 
dressed  and  ready  for  the  day.  And  those  three  hours 

173 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

and  a  half  were  the  happiest  of  her  day  usually,  because 
they  were  full  of  those  physical  sensations  in  which  she 
most  delighted.  Her  first  move,  after  Selina  had  awak 
ened  her,  was  to  spend  half  an  hour  in  "  getting  the 
yawns  out."  She  had  learned  this  interesting,  pleasant 
and  amusing  trick  from  a  baby  in  a  house  where  she  had 
once  spent  a  week.  She  would  extend  herself  at  full 
length  in  the  bed,  and  then  slowly  stretch  each  separate 
muscle  of  arm  and  leg,  of  foot  and  hand,  of  neck  and 
shoulders  and  waist.  This  stretching  process  was  ac 
companied  by  a  series  of  prolonged,  profound,  luxur 
ious  yawns. 

The  yawning  exercise  completed,  she  rose  and  took 
before  a  long  mirror  a  series  of  other  exercises,  some  to 
strengthen  her  waist,  others  to  keep  her  back  straight 
and  supple,  others  to  make  firm  the  contour  of  her  face 
and  throat.  A  half-hour  of  this,  then  came  her  bath. 
This  was  no  hurried  plunge,  drying  and  away,  but  a 
long  and  elaborate  function  at  which  Selina  assisted. 
There  had  to  be  water  of  three  temperatures;  a  dozen 
different  kinds  of  brushes,  soaps,  towels  and  other  ap 
paratus  participated.  When  it  was  finished  Margaret's 
skin  glowed  and  shone,  was  soft  and  smooth  and  exhaled 
a  delicious  odor  of  lilacs.  During  the  exercises  Selina 
had  been  getting  ready  the  clotnes  for  the  day  —  every- 

174 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

thing  fresh  throughout,  and  everything  delicately  redo 
lent  of  the  same  essence  of  lilacs  with  which  Selina  had 
rubbed  her  from  hair  to  tips  of  fingers  and  feet.  The 
clothes  were  put  on  slowly,  for  Margaret  delighted  in 
the  feeling  of  soft  silks  and  laces  being  drawn  over  her 
skin.  She  let  Selina  do  every  possible  bit  of  work,  and 
gave  herself  up  wholly  to  the  joy  of  being  cared  for. 

"  There  isn't  any  real  reason  why  I  shouldn't  be  doing 
this  for  you,  instead  of  your  doing  it  for  me  —  is  there, 
Selina?  "  mused  she  aloud. 

"  Goodness  gracious,  Miss  Rita ! "  exclaimed  Selina, 
horrified.  "  I  wouldn't  have  it  done  for  anything.  I 
was  brought  up  to  be  retiring  about  dressing.  It  was 
my  mother's  dying  boast  that  no  man,  nor  no  woman, 
had  ever  seen  her,  a  grown  woman,  except  fully  dressed." 

"Really?"  said  Margaret  absently.  She  stood  up, 
surveyed  herself  in  the  triple  mirror  —  back,  front, 
sides.  "  So  many  women  never  look  at  themselves  in  the 
back,"  observed  she,  "  or  know  how  their  skirts  hang 
about  the  feet.  I  believe  in  dressing  for  all  points  of 
view." 

"  You  certainly  are  just  perfect,"  said  the  adoring 
Selina,  not  the  least  part  of  her  admiring  satisfaction 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  toilette  was  largely  the  creation 
of  her  own  hands.  "  And  you  smell  like  a  real  lady  — 

175 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

not  noisy,  like  some  that  comes  here.  I  hate  to  touch 
their  wraps  or  to  lay  'em  down  in  the  house.  But 
you —  It's  one  of  them  smells  that  you  ain't  sure 
whether  you  smelt  it  or  dreamed  it." 

"  Pretty  good,  Selina !  "  said  Margaret.  She  could 
not  but  be  pleased  with  such  a  compliment,  one  that 
could  have  been  suggested  only  by  the  truth.  "  The 
hair  went  up  well  this  morning,  didn't  it?  " 

"  Lovely  —  especially  in  the  back.  It  looks  as  if  it 
had  been  marcelled,  without  that  common,  barbery  stiff 
ness-like." 

"  Yes,  the  back  is  good.  And  I  like  this  blouse.  I 
must  wear  it  oftener." 

"  You  can't  afford  to  favor  it  too  much,  Miss  Rita. 
You  know  you've  got  over  thirty,  all  of  them  beauties." 

"  Some  day,  when  I  get  time,  we  must  look  through 
my  clothes.  I  want  to  give  you  a  lot  of  them.  .  .  . 
What  does  become  of  the  time?  Here  it  is,  nearly 
eleven.  See  if  breakfast  has  come  up.  I'll  finish  dress 
ing  afterward  if  it  has." 

It  had.  It  was  upon  a  small  table  in  the  rose  and  gold 
boudoir.  And  the  sun,  shining  softly  in  at  the  creeper- 
shaded  window,  rejoiced  in  the  surpassing  brightness  and 
cleanness  of  the  dishes  of  silver  and  thinnest  porcelain 
and  cut  glass.  Margaret  thought  eating  in  bed  a 

176 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY, 

"  filthy,  foreign  fad,"  and  never  indulged  in  it.  She 
seated  herself  lazily,  drank  her  coffee,  and  ate  her  roll 
and  her  egg  slowly,  deliberately,  reading  her  letters  and 
glancing  at  the  paper.  A  charming  picture  she  made 
—  the  soft,  white  Valenciennes  of  her  matinee  falling 
away  from  her  throat  and  setting  off  the  clean,  smooth 
healthiness  of  her  skin,  the  blackness  of  her  vital  hair; 
from  the  white  lace  of  her  petticoat's  plaited  flounces 
peered  one  of  her  slim  feet,  a  satin  slipper  upon  the  end 
of  it.  At  the  top  of  the  heap  of  letters  lay  one  she 
would  have  recognized,  she  thought,  had  she  never  seen 
the  handwriting  before. 

"  Sure  to  be  upsetting,"  reflected  she ;  and  she  laid  it 
aside,  glancing  now  and  then  at  the  bold,  nervous,  irregu 
lar  hand  and  speculating  about  the  contents  and  about 
the  writer. 

She  had  gone  to  bed  greatly  disturbed  in  mind  as  to 
whether  she  was  doing  well  to  marry  the  obstreperous 
Westerner.  "  He  fascinates  me  in  a  wild,  weird  sort  of 
a  way  when  I'm  with  him,"  she  had  said  to  herself  be 
fore  going  to  sleep,  "  and  the  idea  of  him  is  fascinating 
in  certain  moods.  And  it  is  a  temptation  to  take  hold 
of  him  and  master  and  train  him  —  like  broncho-bust 
ing.  But  is  it  interesting  enough  for  —  for  marriage  ? 
Wouldn't  I  get  horribly  tired?  Wouldn't  Grant  and 

177 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

humdrum  be  better?  less  wearying?  "  And  when  she 
awakened  she  found  her  problem  all  but  solved.  "  I'll 
send  him  packing  and  take  Grant,"  she  found  herself 
saying,  "  unless  some  excellent  reason  for  doing  other 
wise  appears.  Grandmother  was  right.  Engaging  my 
self  to  him  was  a  mood."  Once  more  she  was  all  for 
luxury  and  ease  and  calmness,  for  the  pleasant,  soothing, 
cut-and-dried  thing.  "  A  cold  bath  or  a  rough  rub- 
down  now  and  then,  once  in  a  long  while,  is  all  very  well. 
It  makes  one  appreciate  comfort  and  luxury  more.  But 
that  sort  of  thing  every  day  —  many  times  each 
day  — "  Margaret  felt  her  nerves  rebelling  as  at  the 
stroking  of  velvet  the  wrong  way. 

She  read  all  her  other  letters,  finished  her  toilette,  had 
on  her  hat,  and  was  having  Selina  put  on  her  boots  when 
she  opened  Craig's  letter  and  read: 

"  I  must  have  been  out  of  my  mind  this  after 
noon.  You  are  wildly  fascinating,  but  you  are  not 
for  me.  If  I  led  you  to  believe  that  I  wished  to 
marry  you,  pray  forget  it.  We  should  make  each 
other  unhappy  and,  worse  still,  uncomfortable. 

"  Do  I  make  myself  clear?  We  are  not  engaged. 
I  hope  you  will  marry  Arkwright ;  a  fine  fellow,  in 
every  way  suited  to  you,  and,  I  happen  to  know, 
178 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

madly  in  love  with  you.  Please  try  to  forgive  me. 
If  you  have  any  feeling  for  me  stronger  than 
friendship  you  will  surely  get  over  it. 

"  Anyhow,  we  couldn't  marry.     That  is  settled. 

"  Let  me  have  an  answer  to  this.  I  shall  be 
upset  until  I  hear." 

No  beginning.  No  end.  Just  a  bald,  brutal  casting- 
off.  A  hint  —  more  than  a  hint  —  of  a  fear  that  she 
would  try  to  hold  him  in  spite  of  himself.  She  smiled 
—  small,  even  teeth  clenched  and  eyelids  contracted 
cruelly  —  as  she  read  a  second  time,  with  this  unflatter 
ing  suggestion  obtruding.  The  humiliation  of  being 
j  ilted !  And  by  such  a  man !  —  the  private  shame  — 
the  public  disgrace —  She  sprang  up,  crunching  her 
foot  hard  down  upon  one  of  Selina's  hands.  "  What 
is  it  ?  "  said  she  angrily,  at  her  maid's  cry  of  pain. 

"  Nothing,  Miss,"  replied  Selina,  quickly  hiding  the 
wounded  hand.  "  You  moved  so  quick  I  hadn't  time  to 
draw  away.  That  was  all." 

"  Then  finish  that  boot !  " 

Selina  had  to  expose  the  hand.  Margaret  looked 
down  at  it  indifferently,  though  her  heel  had  torn  the 
skin  away  from  the  edge  of  the  palm  and  had  cut  into 
the  flesh. 

179 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Hurry !  "  she  ordered  fiercely,  as  Selina  fumbled  and 
bungled. 

She  twitched  and  frowned  with  impatience  while  Selina 
finished  buttoning  the  boot,  then  descended  and  called 
Williams.  "  Get  me  Mr.  Craig  on  the  telephone,"  she 
said. 

"  He's  been  calling  you  up  several  times  to-day, 
ma'am, — " 

"  Ah !  "  exclaimed  Margaret,  eyes  flashing  with  sudden 
delight. 

"  But  we  wouldn't  disturb  you." 

"  That  was  right,"  said  Margaret.  She  was  beaming 
now,  was  all  sunny  good  humor.  Even  her  black  hair 
seemed  to  glisten  in  her  smile.  So!  He  had  been  call 
ing  up !  Poor  fool,  not  to  realize  that  she  would  draw 
the  correct  inference  from  this  anxiety. 

"Shall  I  call  him?" 

"  No.  I'll  wait.  Probably  he'll  call  again  soon. 
I'll  be  in  the  library." 

She  had  not  been  roaming  restlessly  about  there  many 
minutes  before  Williams  appeared.  "  He's  come,  him 
self,  ma'am,"  said  he.  "  I  told  him  I  didn't  know 
whether  you'd  be  able  to  see  him  or  not." 

"  Thank  you,  Williams,"  said  Margaret  sweetly. 
"  Order  the  carriage  to  come  round  at  once.  Leave  Mr. 

180 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

Craig  in  the  drawing-room.  I'll  speak  to  him  on  the 
way  out." 

She  dashed  upstairs.  "  Selina !  Selina !  "  she  called. 
And  when  Selina  came :  "  Let  me  see  that  hand.  I 
hurt  you  because  I  got  news  that  went  through  me  like 
a  knife.  You  understand,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  It  was  nothing,  Miss  Rita,"  protested  Selina.  "  I'd 
forgot  it  myself  already." 

But  Margaret  insisted  on  assuring  herself  with  her 
own  eyes,  got  blood  on  her  white  gloves,  had  to  change 
them.  As  she  descended  she  was  putting  on  the  fresh 
pair  —  a  new  pair.  How  vastly  more  than  even  the 
normal  is  a  man's  disadvantage  in  a  "  serious  "  interview 
with  a  woman  if  she  is  putting  on  new  gloves !  She  is 
perfectly  free  to  seem  occupied  or  not,  as  suits  her  con 
venience;  and  she  can,  by  wrestling  with  the  gloves,  in 
terrupt  him  without  speech,  distract  his  attention,  addle 
his  thoughts,  give  him  a  sense  of  imbecile  futility,  and 
all  the  time  offer  him  no  cause  for  resentment  against  her. 
He  himself  seems  in  the  wrong ;  she  is  merely  putting  on 
her  gloves. 

•  •  •  •  • 

She  was  wrong  in  her  guess  that  Arkwright  had  been 
at  him.  He  had  simply  succumbed  to  his  own  fears 
and  forebodings,  gathered  in  force  as  soon  as  he  was 

181 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

not  protected  from  them  by  the  spell  of  her  presence. 
The  mystery  of  the  feminine  is  bred  into  men  from 
earliest  infancy,  is  intensified  when  passion  comes  and 
excites  the  imagination  into  fantastic  activity  about 
women.  No  man,  not  the  most  experienced,  not  the 
most  depraved,  is  ever  able  wholly  to  divest  himself  of 
this  awe,  except,  occasionally,  in  the  case  of  some  par 
ticular  woman.  Awe  makes  one  ill  at  ease;  the  woman 
who,  by  whatever  means,  is  able  to  cure  a  man  of  his 
awe  of  her,  to  make  him  feel  free  to  be  himself,  is  often 
able  to  hold  him,  even  though  he  despises  her  or  is  in 
different  to  her;  on  the  other  hand,  the  woman  who 
remains  an  object  of  awe  to  a  man  is  certain  to  lose  him. 
He  may  be  proud  to  have  her  as  his  wife,  as  the  mother 
of  his  children,  but  he  will  seek  some  other  woman  to 
give  her  the  place  of  intimacy  in  his  life. 

At  the  outset  on  an  acquaintance  between  a  man  and 
a  woman  his  awe  for  her  as  the  embodiment  of  the  mys 
tery  feminine  is  of  great  advantage  to  her;  it  often 
gets  him  for  her  as  a  husband.  In  this  particular  case 
of  Margaret  Severence  and  Joshua  Craig,  while  his  awe 
of  her  was  an  advantage,  it  was  also  a  disadvantage.  It 
attracted  him ;  it  perilously  repelled  him.  He  liked  to 
release  his  robust  imagination  upon  those  charms  of  hers 
—  those  delicate,  refined  beauties  that  filled  him  with 

182 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

longings,  delicious  in  their  intensity,  longings  as  prime 
val  in  kind  as  well  as  in  force  as  those  that  set  delirious 
the  savage  hordes  from  the  German  forests  when  they 
first  poured  down  over  the  Alps  and  beheld  the  jewels 
and  marbles  and  round,  smooth,  soft  women  of  Italy's 
ancient  civilization.  But  at  the  same  time  he  had  the 
unmistakable,  the  terrifying  feeling  of  dare-devil  sacri 
lege.  What  were  his  coarse  hands  doing,  dabbling  in 
silks  and  cobweb  laces  and  embroideries?  Silk  fas 
cinated  him ;  but,  while  he  did  not  like  calico  so  well, 
he  felt  at  home  with  it.  Yes,  he  had  seized  her,  had 
crushed  her  madly  in  the  embrace  of  his  plowman  arms. 
But  that  seemed  now  a  freak  of  courage,  a  drunken 
man's  deed,  wholly  beyond  the  nerve  of  sobriety. 

Then,  on  top  of  all  this  awe  was  his  reverence  for  her 
as  an  aristocrat,  a  representative  of  people  who  had  for 
generations  been  far  removed  above  the  coarse  realities 
of  the  only  life  he  knew.  And  it  was  this  adoration  of 
caste  that  determined  him.  He  might  overcome  his  awe 
of  her  person  and  dress,  of  her  tangible  trappings ;  but 
how  could  he  ever  hope  to  bridge  the  gulf  between  him 
self  and  her  intangible  superiorities?  He  was  ashamed 
of  himself,  enraged  against  himself  for  this  feeling  of  /\ 
worm  gazing  up  at  star.  It  made  a  mockery  of  all  his 
arrogant,  noisy  protestations  of  equality  and  democracy. 

183 


'ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  The  fault  is  not  in  my  ideas,"  thought  he ;  "  they're 
all  right.  The  fault's  in  me  —  damned  snob  that  I 
am! " 

Clearly,  if  he  was  to  be  what  he  wished,  if  he  was  to 
become  what  he  had  thought  he  was,  he  must  get  away 
from  this  sinister  influence,  from  this  temptation  that 
had  made  him,  at  first  onset,  not  merely  stumble,  but  fall 
flat  and  begin  to  grovel.  "  She  is  a  superior  woman  — 
that  is  no  snob  notion  of  mine,"  reflected  he.  "  But 
from  the  way  I  falter  and  get  weak  in  the  knees,  she 
ought  to  be  superhuman  —  which  she  isn't,  by  any 
means.  N6,  there's  only  one  thing  to  do  —  keep  away 
from  her.  Besides,  I'd  feel  miserable  with  her  about  as 
my  wife."  My  wife!  The  very  words  threw  him  into 
a  cold  sweat. 

So  the  note  was  written,  was  feverishly  dispatched. 

No  sooner  was  it  sent  than  it  was  repented.  "  What's 
the  matter  with  me  ?  "  demanded  he  of  himself,  as  his 
courage  came  swaggering  back,  once  the  danger  had 
been  banished.  "  Why,  the  best  is  not  too  good  for  me. 
She  is  the  best,  and  mighty  proud  she  ought  to  be  of  a 
man  who,  by  sheer  force  of  character,  has  lifted  himself 
to  where  I  am  and  who  is  going  to  be  what  I  shall  be. 
Mighty  proud !  There  are  only  two  realities  —  money 
and  brains.  I've  certainly  got  more  brains  than  she  or 

184 


any  of  her  set ;  as  for  money,  she  hasn't  got  that.  The 
superiority  is  all  on  my  side.  I'm  the  one  that  ought  to 
feel  condescending." 

What  had  he  said  in  his  note?  Recalling  it  as  well 
as  he  could  —  for  it  was  one,  the  last,  of  more  than  a 
dozen  notes  he  had  written  in  two  hours  of  that  even 
ing  —  recalling  phrases  he  was  pretty  sure  he  had  put 
into  the  one  he  had  finally  sent,  in  despair  of  a  better, 
it  seemed  to  him  he  had  given  her  a  wholly  false  im 
pression  —  an  impression  of  her  superiority  and  of  his 
fear  and  awe.  That  would  never  do.  He  must  set  her 
right,  must  show  her  he  was  breaking  the  engagement 
only  because  she  was  not  up  to  his  standard.  Besides, 
he  wished  to  see  her  again  to  make  sure  he  had  been 
victimized  into  an  engagement  by  a  purely  physical, 
swiftly-evanescent  imagining.  Yes,  he  must  see  her, 
must  have  a  look  at  her,  must  have  a  talk  with  her. 

"  It's  the  only  decent,  courageous  thing  to  do  in  the 
circumstances.  Sending  that  note  looked  like  coward 
ice  —  would  be  cowardice  if  I  didn't  follow  it  up  with 
a  visit.  And  whatever  else  I  am,  surely  I'm  not  a  cow 
ard!" 

Margaret  had  indulged  in  no  masculine  ingenuities  of 
logic.  Woman-like,  she  had  gone  straight  to  the  prac 
tical  point:  Craig  had  written  instead  of  coming  — 

185 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

he  was,  therefore,  afraid  of  her.  Having  written  he  had 
not  fled,  but  had  come  —  he  was,  therefore,  attracted 
by  her  still.  Obviously  the  game  lay  in  her  own  hands, 
for  what  more  could  woman  ask  than  that  a  man  be  both 
afraid  and  attracted?  A  little  management  and  she  not 
only  would  save  herself  from  the  threatened  humiliation 
of  being  jilted  —  jilted  by  an  uncouth  nobody  of  a  Josh 
Craig !  —  but  also  would  have  him  in  durance,  to  punish 
his  presumption  at  her  own  good  pleasure  as  to  time  and 
manner.  If  Joshua  Craig,  hardy  plodder  in  the  arduous 
pathway  from  plowboy  to  President,  could  have  seen 
what  was  in  the  mind  so  delicately  and  so  aristocratically 
entempled  in  that  graceful,  slender,  ultra-feminine  body 
of  Margaret  Severance's,  as  she  descended  the  stairs, 
putting  fresh  gloves  upon  her  beautiful,  idle  hands,  he 
would  have  borrowed  wings  of  the  wind  and  would 
have  fled  as  from  a  gorgon. 

But  as  she  entered  the  room  nothing  could  have 
seemed  less  formidable  except  to  the  heart.  Her  spring 
dress  —  she  was  wearing  it  for  the  first  time  —  was  of 
a  pale  green,  suggesting  the  draperies  of  islands  of  en 
chantment.  Its  lines  coincided  with  the  lines  of  her 
figure.  Her  hat,  trimmed  to  match,  formed  a  magic 
halo  for  her  hair;  and  it,  in  turn,  was  the  entrancing 
frame  in  which  her  small,  quiet,  pallid  face  was  set  — 

186 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

that  delicate,  sensitive  face,  from  which  shone,  now 
softly  and  now  brilliantly,  those  hazel  eyes  a  painter 
could  have  borrowed  for  a  wood  nymph.  In  the  door 
way,  before  greeting  him,  she  paused. 

"  Williams,"  she  called,  and  Craig  was  thrilled  by 
her  "  high-bred  "  accent,  that  seemed  to  him  to  make 
of  the  English  language  a  medium  different  from  the 
one  he  used  and  heard  out  home. 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  came  the  answer  in  the  subtly-defer 
ential  tone  of  the  aristocracy  of  menialdom,  conjuring 
for  Craig,  with  the  aid  of  the  woman  herself  and  that 
aristocratic  old  room,  a  complete  picture  of  the  life  of 
upper-class  splendor. 

"  Did  you  order  the  carriage,  as  I  asked?  " 

"  Yes,  ma'am ;  it's  at  the  door." 

"  Thank  you."  And  Margaret  turned  upon  an  over 
whelmed  and  dazzled  Craig.  He  did  not  dream  that  she 
had  calculated  it  all  with  a  view  to  impressing  him  — 
and,  if  he  had,  the  effect  would  hardly  have  been  lessened. 
Whether  planned  or  not,  were  not  toilette  and  accent, 
and  butler  and  carriage,  all  realities?  Nor  did  he  sus 
pect  shrewd  calculations  upon  snobbishness  when  she 
said :  "  I  was  in  such  haste  to  dress  that  I  hurt  my 
poor  maid's  hand  as  she  was  lacing  my  boot  " —  she 
thrust  out  one  slender,  elegantly-clad  foot  — "  no,  but- 

187 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

toning  it,  I  mean."  Oh,  these  ladies,  these  ladies  of  the 
new  world  —  and  the  old  —  that  are  so  used  to  maids 
and  carriages  and  being  waited  upon  that  they  no  more 
think  of  display  in  connection  with  them  than  one  would 
think  of  boasting  two  legs  or  two  eyes  t 

The  advantage  from  being  in  the  act  of  putting  on 
gloves  began  at  the  very  outset.  It  helped  to  save  her 
from  deciding  a  mode  of  salutation.  She  did  not  salute 
him  at  all.  It  made  the  meeting  a  continuation,  with 
out  break,  of  their  previous  meeting. 

"  How  do  you  like  my  new  dress  ? "  she  asked,  as 
she  drew  the  long  part  of  her  glove  up  her  round,  white 
arm. 

"  Beautiful,"  he  stammered. 

From  the  hazel  eyes  shot  a  shy-bold  glance  straight 
into  his;  it  was  as  if  those  slim,  taper  fingers  of  hers 
had  twanged  the  strings  of  the  lyre  of  his  nerves. 
"  You  despise  all  this  sort  of  trumpery,  don't  you?  " 

"  Sometimes  a  man  says  things  he  don't  mean,"  he 
found  tongue  to  utter. 

"  I  understand,"  said  she  sympathetically,  and  he 
knew  she  meant  his  note.  But  he  was  too  overwhelmed 
by  his  surroundings,  by  her  envelope  of  aristocracy,  too 
fascinated  by  her  physical  charm,  too  flattered  by  being 
on  such  terms  with  such  a  personage,  to  venture  to  set 

188 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

her  right.  Also,  she  gave  him  little  chance;  for  in  al 
most  the  same  breath  she  went  on :  "  I've  been  in  such 
moods !  —  since  yesterday  afternoon  —  like  the  devils 
in  Milton,  isn't  it  ?  —  that  are  swept  from  lands  of  ice 
to  lands  of  fire  ?  —  or  is  it  in  Dante  ?  I  never  can  re 
member.  We  must  go  straight  off,  for  I'm  late.  You 
can  come,  too  —  it's  only  a  little  meeting  about  some 
charity  or  other.  All  rich  people,  of  course  —  except 
poor  me.  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  why  they  asked  me. 
I  can  give  little  besides  advice.  How  handsome  you  are 
to-day,  Joshua ! " 

It  was  the  first  time  she  had  called  him  by  his  first 
name.  She  repeated  it  — "  Joshua  —  Joshua  " —  as 
when  one  hits  upon  some  particularly  sweet  and  pene 
trating  chord  at  the  piano,  and  strikes  it  again,  and  yet 
again. 

They  were  in  the  carriage,  being  whirled  toward  the 
great  palace  of  Mrs.  Whitson,  the  latest  and  grandest  of 
plutocratic  monuments  that  have  arisen  upon  the  ruins 
of  the  old,  old-fashioned  American  Washington.  And 
she  talked  incessantly  —  a  limpid,  sparkling,  joyous 
strain.  And  either  her  hand  sought  his  or  his  hers ;  at 
any  rate,  he  found  himself  holding  her  hand.  They 
were  almost  there  before  he  contrived  to  say,  very  f alter- 
ingly:  "  You  got  my  note?  " 

189 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

She  laughed  gayly.  "  Oh,  yes  —  and  your  own  an 
swer  to  it,  Joshua  —  my  love  " —  the  "  my  love  "  in  a 
much  lower,  softer  tone,  with  suggestion  of  sudden  tears 
trembling  to  fall. 

"  But  I  meant  it,"  he  said,  though  in  tones  little 
like  any  he  was  used  to  hearing  from  his  own  lips.  But 
he  would  not  dare  look  himself  in  the  face  again  if  he 
did  not  make  at  least  a  wriggle  before  surrendering. 

"  We  mean  many  things  in  as  many  moods,"  said  she. 
"  I  knew  it  was  only  a  mood.  I  knew  you'd  come.  I've 
such  a  sense  of  implicit  reliance  on  you.  You  are  to 
me  like  the  burr  that  shields  the  nut  from  all  harm. 
How  secure  and  cozy  and  happy  the  nut  must  feel  in  its 
burr.  As  I've  walked  through  the  woods  in  the  autumi? 
I've  often  thought  of  that,  and  how,  if  I  ever  mar 
ried  — " 

A  wild  impulse  to  seize  her  and  crush  her,  as  one 
crushes  the  ripe  berry  for  its  perfume  and  taste,  flared 
in  his  eyes.  She  drew  away  to  check  it.  "  Not  now," 
she  murmured,  and  her  quick  breath  and  flush  were  not 
art,  but  nature.  "  Not  just  now  —  Joshua." 

"  You  make  me  —  insane,"  he  muttered  between  his 
teeth.  "  God !  —  I  do  love  you !  " 

They  were  arrived;  were  descending.  And  she  led 
him,  abject  and  in  chains,  into  the  presence  of  Mrs. 

190 


PUTTING  DOWN  A  MUTINY 

Whitson  and  the  most  fashionable  of  the  fashionable 
set.  "  So  you've  brought  him  along  ? "  cried  Mrs. 
Whitson.  "  Well,  I  congratulate  you,  Mr.  Craig.  It's 
very  evident  you  have  a  shrewd  eye  for  the  prizes  of  life, 
and  a  strong,  long  reach  to  grasp  them." 

Craig,  red  and  awkward,  laughed  hysterically,  flung 
out  a  few  meaningless  phrases.  Margaret  murmured: 
"  Perhaps  you'd  rather  go  ?  "  She  wished  him  to  go, 
now  that  she  had  exhibited  him. 

"  Yes  —  for  Heaven's  sake !  "  he  exclaimed.  He  was 
clutching  for  his  braggart  pretense  of  ease  in  "  high 
society  "  like  a  drowning  man  scooping  armsful  of  elu 
sive  water. 

She  steered  her  captive  in  her  quiet,  easeful  manner 
toward  the  door,  sent  him  forth  with  a  farewell  glance 
and  an  affectionate  interrogative,  "  This  afternoon,  at 
half -past  four?  "  that  could  not  be  disobeyed. 

The  mutiny  was  quelled.  The  mutineer  was  in  irons. 
She  had  told  him  she  felt  quite  sure  about  him;  and  it 
was  true,  in  a  sense  rather  different  from  what  the  words 
had  conveyed  to  him.  But  it  was  of  the  kind  of  security 
that  takes  care  to  keep  the  eye  wakeful  and  the  powder 
dry.  She  felt  she  did  not  have  him  yet  where  she  could 
trust  him  out  of  her  sight  and  could  herself  decide 
whether  the  engagement  was  to  be  kept  or  broken. 

191 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Why,  my  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Whitson,  "  he  positively 
feeds  out  of  your  hand!  And  such  a  wild  man  he 
seemed ! " 

Margaret,  in  the  highest  of  high  spirits,  laughed  with 
pleasure. 

"  A  good  many,"  pursued  Mrs.  Whitson,  "  think  you 
are  throwing  yourself  away  for  love.  But  as  I  size  men 
up  —  and  my  husband  says  I'm  a  wonder  at  it  —  I 
think  he'll  be  biggest  figure  of  all  at  one  end  of  Penn 
sylvania  Avenue  or  the  other.  Perhaps,  first  one  end, 
then  at  the  other." 

"  I'm  glad  to  hear  you  say  that,"  cried  Margaret, 
•with  the  keen  enthusiasm  with  which,  in  time  of  doubt, 
we  welcome  an  ally  to  our  own  private  judgment. 
"  But,"  she  hastened  to  add,  with  veiled  eye  and  slightly 
tremulous  lip,  "  I'm  ready  to  take  whatever  comes." 

"That's  right!  That's  right!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Whitson,  a  tender  and  dreamy  sentimentalist  except  in 
her  own  affairs.  "  Love  is  best !  " 

"  Love  is  best,"  echoed  Margaret. 


192 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A  MEMORABLE  MEETING 

In  that  administration  the  man  "  next  "  the  President 
was  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  John  Branch,  cold 
and  smooth  and  able,  secreting,  in  his  pale-gray  soul,  an 
icy  passion  for  power  more  relentless  than  heat  ever 
bred.  To  speak  of  him  as  unscrupulous  would  be  like 
attributing  moral  quality  to  a  reptile.  For  him  prin 
ciple  did  not  exist,  except  as  an  eccentricity  of  some 
strangely-constructed  men  which  might  be  used  to  keep 
them  down.  Life  presented  itself  to  him  as  a  series  of 
mathematical  problems,  as  an  examination  in  mathe 
matics.  To  pass  it  meant  a  diploma  as  a  success;  to 
fail  to  pass  meant  the  abysmal  disgrace  of  obscurity. 
Cheating  was  permissible,  but  not  to  get  caught  at  it. 
Otherwise  Branch  was  the  most  amiable  of  men ;  and  why 
should  he  not  have  been,  his  digestion  being  good,  his 
income  sufficient,  his  domestic  relations  admirable,  and 
his  reputation  for  ability  growing  apace?  No  one  re 
spected  him,  no  one  liked  him;  but  every  one  admired 

193 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

him  as  an  intellect  moving  quite  unhampered  of  the 
restraints  of  conscience.  In  person  he  was  rather  hand 
some,  the  weasel  type  of  his  face  being  well  concealed  by 
fat  and  by  judicious  arrangements  of  mustache  and 
side-whiskers.  By  profession  he  was  a  lawyer,  and  had 
been  most  successful  as  adviser  to  wholesale  thieves  on 
depredations  bent  or  in  search  of  immunity  for  depre 
dations  done.  It  was  incomprehensible  to  him  why  he 
was  unpopular  with  the  masses.  It  irritated  him  that 
they  could  not  appreciate  his  purely  abstract  point  of 
view  on  life;  it  irritated  him  because  his  unpopularity 
with  them  meant  that  there  were  limits,  and  very  narrow 
ones,  to  his  ambition. 

It  was  to  John  Branch  that  Madam  Bowker  applied 
when  she  decided  that  Joshua  Craig  must  be  driven  from 
Washington.  She  sent  for  him,  and  he  came  promptly. 
He  liked  to  talk  to  her  because  she  was  one  of  the  few 
who  thoroughly  appreciated  and  sympathized  with  his 
ideas  of  success  in  life.  Also,  he  respected  her  as  a  per 
sonage  in  Washington,  and  had  it  in  mind  to  marry  his 
daughter,  as  soon  as  she  should  be  old  enough,  to  one  of 
her  grandnephews. 

"  Branch,"  said  the  old  lady,  with  an  emphatic  wave 
of  the  ebony  staff,  "  I  want  that  Craig  man  sent  away 
from  Washington." 

194 


A    MEMORABLE   MEETING 

"  Josh,  the  joke?  "  said  Branch  with  a  slow,  sneering 
smile  that  had  an  acidity  in  it  interesting  in  one  so  even 
as  he. 

"  That's  the  man.  I  want  you  to  rid  us  of  him.  He 
has  been  paying  attention  to  Margaret,  and  she  is  en 
couraging  him." 

"  Impossible !  "  declared  Branch.  "  Margaret  is  a 
sensible  girl  and  Josh  has  nothing  —  never  will  have 
anything." 

"  A  mere  politician ! "  declared  Madam  Bowker. 
"  Like  hundreds  of  others  that  wink  in  with  each  ad 
ministration  and  wink  out  with  it.  He  will  not  succeed 
even  at  his  own  miserable  political  game  —  and,  if  he 
did,  he  would  still  be  poor  as  poverty." 

"  I  don't  think  you  need  worry  about  him  and  Mar 
garet.  I  repeat,  she  is  sensible  —  an  admirable  girl  — 
admirably,  brought  up.  She  has  distinction.  She  has 
the  right  instincts." 

Madam  Bowker  punctuated  each  of  these  compliments 
with  a  nod  of  her  haughty  head.  "  But,"  said  she, 
"  Craig  has  convinced  her  that  he  will  amount  to  some 
thing." 

"  Ridiculous ! "  scoffed  Branch,  with  an  airy  wave  of 
the  hand.  But  there  was  in  his  tone  a  concealment  that 
set  the  shrewd  old  lady  furtively  to  watching  him. 

195 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  What  do  they  think  of  him  among  the  public  men?  " 
inquired  she. 

"  He's  laughed  at  there  as  everywhere." 
Her  vigilance  was  rewarded;  as  Branch  said  that, 
malignance  hissed,  ever  so  softly,  in  his  suave  voice,  and 
the  snake  peered  furtively  from  his  calm,  cold  eyes. 
Old  Madam  Bowker  had  not  lived  at  Washington's  great 
green  tables  for  the  gamblers  of  ambition  all  those  years 
without  learning  the  significance  of  eyes  and  tone.  For 
one  politician  to  speak  thus  venomously  of  another  was 
sure  sign  that  that  other  was  of  consequence;  for  John 
Branch,  a  very  Machiavelli  at  self-concealmerit  and  usu 
ally  too  egotistic  to  be  jealous,  thus  to  speak,  and  that, 
without  being  able  to  conceal  his  venom  —  "  Can  it 
be  possible,"  thought  the  old  lady,  "  that  this  Craig 
is  about  to  be  a  somebody  ?  "  Aloud  she  said :  "  He 
is  a  preposterous  creature.  The  vilest  manners  I've  seen 
in  three  generations  of  Washington  life.  And  what 
vanity,  what  assumptions!  The  first  time  I  met  him 
he  lectured  me  as  if  I  were  a  schoolgirl  —  lectured  me 
about  the  idle,  worthless  life  he  said  I  lead.  I  decided 
not  to  recognize  him  next  time  I  saw  him.  Up  he  came, 
and  without  noticing  that  I  did  not  speak  he  poured 
out  such  insults  that  I  was  answering  him  before  I  real 
ized  it." 

196 


14    MEMORABLE   MEETING 

"  He  certainly  is  a  most  exasperating  person." 

"  So  Western !  The  very  worst  the  West  ever  sent 
us.  I  don't  understand  how  he  happened  to  get  about 
among  decent  people.  Oh,  I  remember,  it  was  Grant 
Arkwright  who  did  it.  Grant  picked  him  up  on  one  of 
his  shooting  trips." 

"  He  is  insufferable,"  said  Branch. 

"  You  must  see  that  the  President  gets  rid  of  him. 
I  want  it  done  at  once.  I  assure  you,  John,  my  alarm 
is  not  imaginary.  Margaret  is  very  young,  has  a  streak 
of  sentimentality  in  her.  Besides,  you  know  how  weak 
the  strongest  women  are  before  a  determined  assault. 
If  the  other  sex  wasn't  brought  up  to  have  a  purely  im 
aginary  fear  of  them  I  don't  know  what  would  become 
of  the  world." 

Branch  smiled  appreciatively  but  absently.  "  The 
same  is  true  of  men,"  said  he.  "  The  few  who  amount 
to  anything  —  at  least  in  active  life  - —  base  their  cal 
culations  on  the  timidity  and  folly  of  their  fellows  rather 
than  upon  their  own  abilities.  About  Craig  —  I'd  like 
to  oblige  you,  but  —  well,  you  see,  there  is  —  there  are 
certain  political  exigencies  — " 

"  Nonsense !  "  interrupted  the  old  lady.  "  I  know 
the  relative  importance  of  officials.  A  mere  understrap 
per  like  Craig  is  of  no  importance." 

197 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  Branch  with  great  reluctance, 
"  the  President  has  taken  a  fancy  to  Craig." 

Branch  said  it  as  if  he  hardly  expected  to  be  believed 
—  and  he  wasn't.  "  To  be  perfectly  frank,"  he  went 
on,  "  you  know  the  President,  how  easily  alarmed  he  is. 
He's  afraid  Craig  may,  by  some  crazy  turn  of  this  crazy 
game  of  politics,  develop  into  a  Presidential  possibility. 
Of  course,  it's  quite  absurd,  but  — " 

"  The  more  reason  for  getting  rid  of  him." 

"  The  contrary.  The  President  probably  reasons 
that,  if  Craig  has  any  element  of  danger  in  him  the 
nearer  he  keeps  him  to  himself  the  better.  Craig,  back 
in  the  West,  would  be  free  to  grow.  Here  the  President 
can  keep  him  down  if  necessary.  And  I  think  our  friend 
Stillwater  will  succeed  in  entangling  him  disastrously  -in 
some  case  sooner  or  later."  There  Branch  laughed 
pleasantly,  as  at  the  finding  of  the  correct  solution  to  a 
puzzling  problem  in  analytics  or  calculus. 

"  What  a  cowardly,  shadow-fighting,  shadow-dodg 
ing  set  you  men  are ! "  commented  Madam  Bowker. 
Though  she  did  not  show  it,  as  a  man  certainly  would, 
her  brain  was  busy  with  a  wholly  different  phase  of  the 
matter  they  were  discussing. 

"  Isn't  Stillwater  going  to  retire  ?  "  she  asked  pre 
sently. 

198 


A    MEMORABLE   MEETING 

Branch  startled.  "Where  did  you  hear  that?"  he 
demanded. 

The  old  lady  smiled.  "  There  are  no  secrets  in  Wash 
ington,"  said  she.  "  Who  will  be  his  successor?  " 

Branch's  cold  face  showed  annoyance.  "  You  mustn't 
speak  of  it,"  replied  he,  "  but  the  President  is  actually 
thinking  of  appointing  Craig  —  in  case  the  vacancy 
should  occur.  Of  course,  I  am  trying  to  make  him  see 
the  folly  of  such  a  proceeding,  but  —  You  are  right. 
Men  are  cowards.  That  insufferable  upstart  is  actually 
bullying  the  President  into  a  state  of  terror.  Already 
he  has  compelled  him  to  prosecute  some  of  our  best 
friends  out  in  the  Western  country,  and  if  the  Courts 
weren't  with  us  — "  Branch  checked  himself  abruptly. 
It  was  not  the  first  time  he  had  caught  himself  yielding 
to  Washington's  insidious  custom  of  rank  gossip  about 
everything  and  everybody ;  but  it  was  about  his  worst 
offense  in  that  direction.  "  I'm  getting  to  be  as  leaky 
as  Josh  Craig  is  —  as  he  seems  to  be,"  he  muttered,  so 
low,  however,  that  not  even  her  sharp  ears  caught  it. 

"So  it  is  to  be  Attorney-General  Craig,"  said  the 
old  lady,  apparently  abstracted  but  in  reality  catlike  in 
watchfulness,  and  noting  with  secret  pleasure  Branch's 
anger  at  this  explicit  statement  of  the  triumph  of  his 
hated  rival. 

199 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"Isn't  it  frightful?"  said  Branch.  "What  is  the 
country  coming  to  ?  " 

But  she  had  lost  interest  in  the  conversation.  She 
rid  herself  of  Branch  as  speedily  as  the  circumstances 
permitted.  She  wished  to  be  alone,  to  revolve  the  situa 
tion  slowly  from  the  new  viewpoint  which  Branch,  half- 
unconsciously  and  wholly  reluctantly,  had  opened  up. 
She  had  lived  a  long  time,  had  occupied  a  front  bench 
overlooking  one  of  the  world's  chief  arenas  of  action. 
And,  as  she  had  an  acute  if  narrow  mind,  she  had  learned 
to  judge  intelligently  and  to  note  those  little  signs  that 
are,  to  the  intelligent,  the  essentials,  full  of  significance. 
She  had  concealed  her  amazement  from  Branch,  but 
amazed  she  was,  less  at  his  news  of  Craig  as  a  personage 
full  of  potentiality  than  at  her  own  failure,  through  the 
inexcusable,  manlike  stupidity  of  personal  pique,  to  dis 
cern  the  real  man  behind  his  mannerisms.  "  No  wonder 
he  has  pushed  so  far,  so  fast,"  reflected  she;  for  she 
appreciated  that  in  a  man  of  action  manners  should  al 
ways  be  a  cloak  behind  which  his  real  campaign  forms. 
It  must  be  a  fitting  cloak,  it  should  be  a  becoming  one; 
but  always  a  cloak.  "  He  fools  everybody,  apparently," 
thought  she.  "  The  results  of  his  secret  work  alarm 
them ;  then,  along  he  comes,  with  his  braggart,  offensive 
manners,  his  childish  posings,  his  peacock  vanity,  and 

200 


&L   MEMORABLE  MEETING 

they  are  lulled  into  false  security.  They  think  what 
he  did  was  an  accident  that  will  not  happen  again. 
Why,  he  fooled  even  me!  " 

That  is  always,  with  every  human  being,  the  supreme 
test,  necessarily.  Usually  it  means  nothing.  In  this 
case  of  Cornelia  Bowker  it  meant  a  great  deal ;  for  Cor 
nelia  Bowker  was  not  easily  fooled.  The  few  who  ap 
pear  in  the  arena  of  ambition  with  no  game  to  play, 
with  only  sentiment  and  principle  to  further,  the  few 
who  could  easily  have  fooled  her  cynical,  worldly  wis 
dom  could  safely  be  disregarded.  She  felt  it  was  the 
part  of  good  sense  to  look  the  young  man  over  again, 
to  make  sure  that  the  new  light  upon  him  was  not  false 
light.  "  He  may  be  a  mere  accident  in  spite  of  his  re 
markable  successes,"  thought  she.  "  The  same  number 
sometimes  comes  a  dozen  times  in  succession  at  roulette." 
She  sent  her  handy  man,  secretary,  social  manager  and 
organizer,  tnaitre  d'hotel,  companion,  scout,  gossip,  pur 
veyor  of  comfort,  J.  Worthington  Whitesides,  -to  seek 
out  Craig  and  to  bring  him  before  her  forthwith. 

As  Mr.  Whitesides  was  a  tremendous  swell,  in  dress, 
in  manner  and  in  accent,  Craig  was  much  impressed  when 
he  came  into  his  office  in  the  Department  of  Justice. 
Whitesides'  manner,  the  result  of  Madam  Bowker's  per 
sonal  teaching,  was  one  of  his  chief  assets  in  maintain- 

201 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

ing  and  extending  her  social  power.  It  gave  the  great 
est  solemnity  and  dignity  to  a  summons  from  her,  filled 
the  recipient  with  pleasure  and  with  awe,  prepared  him 
or  her  to  be  duly  impressed  and  in  a  frame  of  mind 
suitable  to  Madam  Bowker's  purposes. 

"  I  come  from  Madam  Bowker,"  he  explained  to 
Craig,  humbly  conscious  of  his  own  disarray  and  toiler's 
unkemptness.  "  She  would  be  greatly  obliged  if  you 
will  give  her  a  few  minutes  of  your  time.  She  begs  you 
to  excuse  the  informality.  She  has  sent  me  in  her  car 
riage,  and  it  will  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  her  if  you 
will  accompany  me." 

Craig's  first  impulse  of  snobbish  satisfaction  was  im 
mediately  followed  by  misgivings.  Perhaps  this  was  not 
the  formal  acceptance  of  the  situation  by  the  terrible 
old  woman  as  he  had,  on  the  spur,  fancied.  Perhaps 
she  had  sent  for  him  to  read  him  the  riot  act.  Then  he 
remembered  that  he  was  himself  in  doubt  as  to  whether 
he  wished  to  marry  the  young  woman.  All  his  doubts 
came  flooding  back,  and  his  terrors  —  for,  in  some  of  its 
aspects,  the  idea  of  being  married  to  this  delicate  flower 
of  conventionality  and  gentle  breeding  was  literally  a 
terror  to  him.  If  he  went  he  would  be  still  further 
committing  himself;  all  Washington  would  soon  know 
of  the  journey  in  the  carriage  of  Madam  Bowker,  the 

202 


A   MEMORABLE   MEETING 

most  imposing  car  of  state  that  appeared  in  the  streets 
of  the  Capital,  a  vast,  lofty  affair,  drawn  by  magnifi 
cent  horses,  the  coachman  and  footman  in  costly,  quiet 
livery,  high  ensconced. 

"  No,  thanks,"  said  Josh,  in  his  most  bustlingly- 
bounderish  manner.  "  Tell  the  old  lady  I'm  up  to  my 
neck  in  work." 

Mr.  Whitesides  was  taken  aback,  but  he  was  far  too 
polished  a  gentleman  to  show  it.  "  Perhaps  later?  "  he 
suggested. 

"  I've  promised  Margaret  to  go  out  there  later.  If 
I  get  through  here  in  time  I'll  look  in  on  Mrs.  Bowker 
on  the  way.  But  tell  her  not  to  wait  at  home  for  me." 

Mr.  Whitesides  bowed,  and  was  glad  when  the  outer 
air  was  blowing  off  him  the  odor  of  this  vulgar  inci 
dent.  "  For,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  there  are  some  man 
ners  so  bad  that  they  have  a  distinct  bad  smell.  He  is 
'  the  limit ! '  The  little  Severence  must  be  infernally 
hard-pressed  to  think  of  taking  him  on.  Poor  child! 
She's  devilish  interesting.  A  really  handsome  bit,  and 
smart,  too  —  excellent  ideas  about  dress.  Yet  somehow 
she's  been  marooned,  overlooked,  while  far  worse  have 
been  married  well.  Strange,  that  sort  of  thing.  Some 
what  my  own  case.  I  ought  to  have  been  able  to  get 
some  girl  with  a  bunch,  yet  I  somehow  always  just  failed 

203 


'ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

to  connect  — until  I  got  beyond  the  marrying  age. 
Devilish  lucky  for  me,  too.  I'm  no  end  better  off." 
And  Mr.  Whitesides,  sitting  correctly  upon  Madam 
Bowker's  gray  silk  cushions,  reflected  complacently  upon 
his  ample  salary,  his  carefully  built-up  and  most  lucra 
tive  commissions,  his  prospects  for  a  "  smashing-good 
legacy  when  her  majesty  deigns  to  pass  away." 

At  four  Madam  Bowker,  angry  yet  compelled  to  a 
certain  respect,  heard  with  satisfaction  that  Craig  had 
come.  "  Leave  me,  Whitesides,"  said  she.  "  I  wish  to 
be  quite  alone  with  him  throughout." 

Thus  Craig,  entering  the  great,  dim  drawing-room, 
with  its  panel  paintings  and  its  lofty,  beautifully-fres 
coed  ceiling,  found  himself  alone  with  her.  She  was 
throned  upon  a  large,  antique  gold  chair,  ebony  scepter 
in  one  hand,  the  other  hand  white  and  young-looking 
and  in  fine  relief  against  the  black  silk  of  her  skirt ;  she 
bent  upon  him  a  keen,  gracious  look.  Her  hazel  eyes 
were  bright  as  a  bird's;  they  had  the  advantage  over  a 
bird's  that  they  saw  —  saw  everything  in  addition  to 
seeming  to  see. 

Looking  at  him  she  saw  a  figure  whose  surfaces  were, 
indeed,  not  extraordinarily  impressive.  Craig's  frame 
was  good ;  that  was  apparent  despite  his  clothes.  He  had 

204 


A    MEMORABLE   MEETING 

powerful  shoulders,  not  narrow,  yet  neither  were  they 
of  the  broad  kind  that  suggest  power  to  the  inexpert 
and  weakness  and  a  tendency  to  lung  trouble  to  the  ex 
pert.  His  body  was  a  trifle  long  for  his  arms  and 
legs,  which  were  thick  and  strong,  like  a  lion's  or  a 
tiger's.  He  had  a  fine  head,  haughtily  set ;  his  eyes  em 
phasized  the  impression  of  arrogance  and  force.  He 
had  the  leader's  beaklike  nose,  a  handsome  form  of  it, 
like  Alexander's,  not  like  Attila's.  The  mouth  was  the 
orator's  —  wide,  full  and  flexible  of  lips,  fluent.  It 
was  distinctly  not  an  aristocratic  mouth.  It  suggested 
common  speech  and  common  tastes  —  ruddy  tastes  — 
tastes  for  quantity  rather  than  for  quality.  His  skin, 
his  flesh  were  also  plainly  not  aristocratic;  they  lacked 
that  fineness  of  grain,  that  finish  of  surface  which  are 
got  only  by  eating  the  costly,  rare,  best  and  best-pre 
pared  food.  His  hair,  a  partially  disordered  mop  over 
hanging  his  brow  at  the  middle,  gave  him  fierceness  of 
aspect.  The  old  lady  had  more  than  a  suspicion  that  the 
ferocity  of  that  lock  of  hair  and  somewhat  exaggerated 
forward  thrust  of  the  jaw  were  pose  —  in  part,  at  least, 
an  effort  to  look  the  valiant  and  relentless  master  of 
men  —  perhaps  concealing  a  certain  amount  of  irreso 
lution.  Certainly  those  eyes  met  hers  boldly  rather  than 
fearlessly. 

205 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

She  extended  her  hand.  He  took  it,  and  with  an 
effort  gave  it  the  politician's  squeeze  —  the  squeeze  that 
makes  Hiram  Hanks  and  Bill  Butts  grin  delightedly  and 
say  to  each  other :  "  B'gosh,  he  ain't  lost  his  axe-handle 
grip  yet,  by  a  durn  sight,  has  he  ?  —  dog-gone  him  !  " 

Madam  Bowker  did  not  wince,  though  she  felt  like 
it.  Instead  she  smiled  — a  faint,  derisive  smile  that 
made  Craig  color  uncomfortably. 

"  You  young  man,"  said  she  in  her  cool,  high-bred 
tones,  "  you  wish  to  marry  my  granddaughter." 

Craig  was  never  more  afraid  nor  so  impressed  in  his 
life.  But  there  was  no  upflaming  of  physical  passion 
here  to  betray  him  into  yielding  before  her  as  he  had 
before  her  granddaughter.  "  I  do  not,"  replied  he  ar 
rogantly.  "  Your  granddaughter  wants  to  marry  me." 

Madam  Bowker  winced  in  spite  of  herself.  A  very 
sturdy-appearing  specimen  of  manhood  was  this  before 
her ;  she  could  understand  how  her  granddaughter  might 
be  physically  attracted.  But  that  rude  accent,  that 
common  mouth,  those  uncouth  clothes,  hand-me-downs 
or  near  it,  that  cheap  look  about  the  collar,  about  the 
wrists,  about  the  ankles  — 

"  We  are  absolutely  unsuited  to  each  other  —  in  every 
way,"  continued  Craig.  "  I  tell  her  so.  But  she  won't 
listen  to  me.  The  only  reason  I've  come  here  is  to  ask 

206 


you  to  take  a  hand  at  trying  to  bring  her  to  her  senses." 
The  old  lady,  recovered  from  her  first  shock,  gazed 
at  him  admiringly.  He  had  completely  turned  her 
flank,  and  by  a  movement  as  swift  as  it  was  unexpected. 
If  she  opposed  the  engagement  he  could  hail  her  as  an 
ally,  could  compel  her  to  contribute  to  her  own  grand 
daughter's  public  humiliation.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
she  accepted  the  engagement  he  would  have  her  and 
Margaret  and  all  the  proud  Severence  family  in  the 
position  of  humbly  seeking  alliance  with  him.  Admir 
able!  No  wonder  Branch  was  jealous  and  the  President 
alarmed.  "  Your  game,"  said  she  pleasantly,  "  is  ex 
tremely  unkempt,  but  effective.  I  congratulate  you. 
I  owe  you  an  apology  for  having  misjudged  you." 

He  gave  her  a  shrewd  look.  "  I  know  little  Latin  and 
less  Greek,"  said  he,  "  but,  *  timeo  Danaos  dona  ferentes.' 
And  I've  got  no  game.  I'm  telling  you  the  straight 
truth,  and  I  want  you  to  help  save  me  from  Margaret 
and  from  myself.  I  love  the  girl.  I  honestly  don't 
want  to  make  her  wretched.  I  need  a  sock-darner,  a 
wash-counter,  a  pram-pusher,  for  a  wife,  as  Grant  would 
say,  not  a  dainty  piece  of  lace  embroidery.  It  would 
soon  be  covered  with  spots  and  full  of  holes  from  the 
rough  wear  I'd  give  it." 

Madam  Bowker  laughed  heartily.     "  You  are  —  de- 
207 


'ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

licious,"  said  she.  *'  You  state  the  exact  situation. 
Only  I  don't  think  Rita  is  quite  so  fragile  as  you  fancy. 
Like  all  persons  of  common  origin,  Mr.  Craig,  you  ex 
aggerate  human  differences.  They  are  not  differences 
of  kind,  but  of  degree." 

Craig  quivered  and  reddened  at  "  common  origin,"  as 
Madam  Bowker  expected  and  hoped.  She  had  not  felt 
that  she  was  taking  a  risk  in  thus  hardily  ignoring  her 
own  origin ;  Lard  had  become  to  her,  as  to  all  Wash 
ington,  an  unreality  like  a  shadowy  reminiscence  of  a 
possible  former  sojourn  on  earth.  "  I  see,"  pursued 
she,  "  that  I  hurt  your  vanity  by  my  frankness  — " 

"Not  at  all!  Not  at  all!"  blustered  Joshua,  still 
angrier  —  as  Madam  Bowker  had  calculated. 

"  Don't  misunderstand  me,"  pursued  she  tranquilly. 
"  I  was  simply  stating  a  fact  without  aspersion.  It  is 
the  more  to  your  credit  that  you  have  been  able  to  raise 
yourself  up  among  us  —  and  so  very  young !  You  are 
not  more  than  forty,  are  you?  " 

"  Thirty-four,"  said  Craig  surlily.  He  began  to  feel 
like  a  cur  that  is  getting  a  beating  from  a  hand  beyond 
the  reach  of  its  fangs.  "  I've  had  a  hard  life  — " 

"  So  I  should  judge,"  thrust  the  old  lady  with  gen 
tle  sympathy.  It  is  not  necessary  to  jab  violently  with 
a  red-hot  iron  in  order  to  make  a  deep  burn. 

208 


A   MEMORABLE   MEETING 

"  But  I  am  the  better  for  it,"  continued  Craig,  eyes 
flashing  and  orator  lips  in  action.  "  And  you  and  your 
kind  —  your  granddaughter  Margaret  —  would  be  the 
better  for  having  faced  —  for  having  to  face  —  the 
realities  of  life  instead  of  being  pampered  in  luxury  and 
uselessness." 

"  Then  why  be  resentful?  "  inquired  she.  "  Why  not 
merely  pity  us?  Why  this  heat  and  seeming  jealousy?  " 

"  Because  I  love  your  granddaughter,"  replied  Craig, 
the  adroit  at  debate.  "  It  pains,  it  angers  me  to  see 
a  girl  who  might  have  been  a  useful  wife,  a  good  mother, 
trained  and  set  to  such  base  uses." 

The  old  lady  admired  his  skillful  parry.  "  Let  us 
not  discuss  that,"  said  she.  "  We  look  at  life  from  dif 
ferent  points  of  view.  No  human  being  can  see  beyond 
his  own  point  of  view.  Only  God  sees  life  as  a  whole, 
sees  how  its  seeming  inconsistencies  and  injustices  blend 
into  a  harmony.  Your  mistake  —  pardon  an  old 
woman's  criticism  of  experience  upon  inexperience  — 
your  mistake  is  that  you  arrogate  to  yourself  divine  wis 
dom  and  set  up  a  personal  opinion  as  eternal  truth." 

"  That  is  very  well  said,  admirably  said,"  cried  Craig. 
Madam  Bowker  would  have  been  better  pleased  with  the 
compliment  had  the  tone  been  less  gracious  and  less  con 
descending. 

209 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  To  return  to  the  main  subject,"  continued  she. 
"  Your  hesitation  about  my  granddaughter  does  credit 
to  your  manliness  and  to  your  sense.  I  have  known 
marriages  between  people  of  different  station  and  rank 
to  turn  out  well  —  again  — " 

"  That's  the  second  or  third  time  you've  made  that 
insinuation,"  burst  out  Craig.  "  I  must  protest  against 
it,  in  the  name  of  my  father  and  mother,  in  the  name  of 
my  country,  Mrs.  Bowker.  It  is  too  ridiculous!  Who 
are  you  that  you  talk  about  rank  and  station?  What 
is  Margaret  but  the  daughter  of  a  plain  human  being 
of  a  father,  a  little  richer  than  mine  and  so  a  little  nearer 
opportunities  for  education?  The  claims  to  superiority 
of  some  of  the  titled  people  on  the  other  side  are  silly 
enough  when  one  examines  them  —  the  records  of  knav 
ery  and  thievery  and  illegitimacy  and  insanity.  But 
similar  claims  over  here  are  laughable  at  a  glance.  The 
reason  I  hesitate  to  marry  your  daughter  is  not  to  her 
credit,  or  to  her  parents'  credit  —  or  to  yours." 

Madam  Bowker  was  beside  herself  with  rage  at  these 
candid  insults,  flung  at  her  with  all  Craig's  young  en 
ergy  and  in  his  most  effective  manner ;  for  his  crudeness 
disappeared  when  he  spoke  thus,  as  the  blackness  and 
roughness  of  the  coal  vanish  in  the  furnace  heat,  trans 
forming  it  into  beauty  and  grace  of  flames. 

210 


A    MEMORABLE   MEETING 

"  Do  I  make  myself  clear? "  demanded  Craig,  his 
eyes  flashing  superbly  upon  her. 

"  You  certainly  do,"  snapped  the  old  lady,  her  dig 
nity  tottering  and  a  very  vulgar  kind  of  human  wrath 
showing  uglily  in  her  blazing  eyes  and  twitching  nose 
and  mouth  and  fingers. 

"  Then  let  us  have  no  more  of  this  caste  nonsense," 
said  the  young  man.  "  Forbid  your  granddaughter  to 
marry  or  to  see  me.  Send  or  take  her  away.  She  will 
thank  you  a  year  from  now.  My  thanks  will  begin  from 
the  moment  of  release." 

"  Yes,  you  have  made  yourself  extremely  clear,"  said 
Madam  Bowker  in  a  suffocating  voice.  To  be  thus 
defied,  insulted,  outraged,  in  her  own  magnificent  salon, 
in  her  own  magnificent  presence !  "  You  may  be  sure 
you  will  have  no  further  opportunity  to  exploit  your 
upstart  insolence  in  my  family.  Any  chance  you  may 
have  had  for  the  alliance  you  have  so  cunningly  sought 
is  at  an  end."  And  she  waved  her  ebony  scepter  in  dis 
missal,  ringing  the  bell  at  the  same  time. 

Craig  drew  himself  up,  bowed  coldly  and  haughtily, 
made  his  exit  in  excellent  style ;  no  prince  of  the  blood, 
bred  to  throne  rooms,  no  teacher  of  etiquette  in  a  fash 
ionable  boarding-school  could  have  done  better. 


211 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MAGGIE  AND  JOSH 

Wrath  is  a  baseless  flame  in  the  intelligent  aged ;  also, 
Margaret's  grandmother  was  something  more  than  a 
mere  expert  in  social  craft,  would  have  been  woman 
of  the  world  had  not  circumstances  compressed  her  to 
its  /petty  department  of  fashionable  society.  Before 
Craig  had  cleared  the  front  door  she  was  respecting  him, 
even  as  she  raged  against  him.  Insolent,  impudent, 
coarsely  insulting  —  yes,  all  these.  But  very  much  a 
man,  a  masculine  force;  with  weaknesses,  it  was  true, 
and  his  full  measure  of  the  low-sprung's  obsequious 
snobbishness;  but,  for  all  that,  strong,  persistent,  con 
centrated,  one  who  knew  the  master-art  of  making  his 
weaknesses  serve  as  pitfalls  into  which  his  enemies  were 
lured,  to  fall  victim  to  his  strength. 

"  Yes,  he  will  arrive,"  reflected  Madam  Bowker. 
"  Branch  will  yet  have  to  serve  him.  Poor  Branch ! 
What  a  misery  for  a  man  to  be  born  with  a  master's 
mind  but  with  the  lack  of  will  and  courage  that  keeps 
a  man  a  servant.  Yes,  Craig  will  arrive!  . 
What  a  pity  he  has  no  money." 


But,  on  second  thought,  that  seemed  less  a  disad 
vantage.  If  she  should  let  him  marry  Margaret  they 
would  be  dependent  upon  her;  she  could  control  them 
—  him  —  through  holding  the  purse  strings.  And 
when  that  remote  time  came  at  which  it  would  please 
God  to  call  her  from  her  earthly  labors  to  their  eternal 
reward,  she  could  transfer  the  control  to  Margaret. 
"  Men  of  his  origin  are  always  weak  on  the  social  side," 
she  reflected.  "  And  it  wouldn't  be  in  nature  for  a 
person  as  grasping  of  power  as  he  is  not  to  be  eager 
about  money  also." 

With  the  advent  of  plutocratic  fashion  respect  for 
official  position  had  dwindled  at  Washington.  In 
Rome  in  the  days  when  the  imperators  became  mere  crea 
tures  of  the  army,  the  seat  of  fashion  and  of  power  was 
transferred  to  the  old  and  rich  families  aloof  from  the 
government  and  buying  peace  and  privilege  from  it. 
So  Washington's  fashionable  society  has  come  to  realize, 
even  more  clearly  than  does  the  rest  of  the  country,  that, 
despite  spasmodic  struggles  and  apparent  spurts  of  re 
action,  power  has  passed  to  the  plutocracy,  and  that 
officialdom  is,  as  a  rule,  servant  verging  toward  slave. 
Still,  form  is  a  delusion  of  tenacious  hold  upon  the 
human  mind.  The  old  lady's  discoveries  of  Craig's  po 
litical  prospects  did  not  warm  her  toward  him  as  would 

213 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

news  that  he  was  in  the  way  of  being  vastly  rich;  but 
she  retained  enough  of  the  fading  respect  for  high- 
titled  office  to  feel  that  he  was  not  the  quite  impossi 
bility  she  had  fancied,  but  was  fit  to  be  an  aspirant  for 
an  aristocratic  alliance. 

"  If  Margaret  doesn't  fall  in  love  with  him  after  she 
marries  him,"  reflected  she,  "  all  may  be  well.  Of  course, 
if  she  does  she'll  probably  ruin  him  and  herself,  too. 
But  I  think  she'll  have  enough  sense  of  her  position, 
of  how  to  maintain  it  for  herself,  and  for  him  and  her 
children,  not  to  be  a  fool." 

Meanwhile  Craig  was  also  cooling  down.  He  had 
meant  every  word  he  said  —  while  he  was  saying  it. 
Only  one  self-convinced  could  have  been  so  effective. 
But,  sobering  off  from  his  rhetorical  debauch  in  the 
quiet  streets  of  that  majestic  quarter,  he  began  to  feel 
that  he  had  gone  farther,  much  farther,  than  he  in 
tended. 

"  I  don't  see  how,  in  self-respect,  I  could  have  said 
less,"  thought  he.  "  And  surely  the  old  woman  isn't 
so  lost  to  decency  that  she  can't  appreciate  and  admire 
self-respect." 

Still  he  might  have  spoken  less  harshly;  might  have 
been  a  little  considerate  of  the  fact  that  he  was  not 
making  a  stump  speech,  but  was  in  the  drawing-room 

214 


MAGGIE   AND   JOSH 


of  a  high-born,  high-bred  lady.  "  And  gad,  she  is  a 
patrician !  " 

His  eyes  were  surveying  the  splendid  mansions  round 
about  —  the  beautiful  window-gardens  —  the  curtains 
at  the  windows,  which  he  had  learned  were  real  lace, 
whatever  that  might  be,  and  most  expensive.  Very  fine, 
that  way  of  living !  Very  comfortable,  to  have  servants 
at  beck  and  call,  and  most  satisfactory  to  the  craving 
for  power  —  trifles,  it  is  true,  but  still  the  substantial 
and  tangible  evidence  of  power.  "  And  it  impresses 
the  people,  too.  We're  all  snobs  at  bottom.  We're 
not  yet  developed  enough  to  appreciate  such  a  lofty  ab 
straction  as  democracy." 

True,  Margaret  was  not  rich ;  but  the  old  grandmother 
was.  Doubtless,  if  he  managed  her  right,  she  would 
see  to  it  that  he  and  Margaret  had  some  such  luxury 
as  these  grandly-housed  people  — "  but  not  too  much, 
for  that  would  interfere  with  my  political  program." 
He  did  not  protest  this  positively ;  the  program  seemed, 
for  the  moment,  rather  vague  and  not  very  attractive. 
The  main  point  seemed  to  be  money  and  the  right  sort 
of  position  among  the  right  sort  of  people.  He  shook 
himself,  scowled,  muttered :  "  I  am  a  damn  fool ! 
What  do  7  amount  to  except  as  I  rise  in  politics  and 
stay  risen?  I  must  be  mighty  careful  or  I'll  lose  my 

215 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

point  of  view  and  become  a  wretched  hanger-on  at  the 
skirts  of  these  fakers.  For  they  are  fakers  —  frauds 
of  the  first  water!  Take  their  accidental  money  away 
from  them  and  they'd  sink  to  be  day  laborers,  most  of 
them  —  and  not  of  much  account  there." 

He  was  sorely  perplexed;  he  did  not  know  what  to 
do  —  what  he  ought  to  do  —  even  what  he  wanted  to 
do.  One  thing  seemed  clear  —  that  he  had  gone  further 
than  was  necessary  in  antagonizing  the  old  woman. 
Whether  he  wanted  to  marry  the  girl  or  not,  he  certainly 
did  not  wish,  at  this  stage  of  the  game,  to  make  it  im 
possible.  The  wise  plan  was  to  leave  the  situation  open 
in  every  direction,  so  that  he  could  freely  advance  or 
freely  retreat  as  unfolding  events  might  dictate.  So 
he  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  Severence  house,  walked 
at  his  usual  tearing  pace,  arrived  there  somewhat 
wilted  of  collar  and  exceedingly  dusty  of  shoe  and 
trouser-leg. 

Greater  physical  contrast  could  hardly  have  been 
than  that  between  him  and  Margaret,  descending  to 
him  in  the  cool  garden  where  he  was  mopping  himself 
and  dusting  his  shoes,  all  with  the  same  handkerchief. 
She  was  in  a  graceful  walking  costume  of  pale  blue, 
scrupulously  neat,  perfect  to  the  smallest  detail.  As  she 
advanced  she  observed  him  with  eyes  that  nothing 

216 


MAGGIE  AND   JOSH 


escaped ;  and  being  in  one  of  her  exquisite  moods,  when 
the  senses  are  equally  quick  to  welcome  the  agreeable 
or  to  shrink  from  the  disagreeable,  she  had  a  sense  of 
physical  repugnance.  He  saw  her  the  instant  she  came 
out  of  the  house.  Her  dress,  its  harmony  with  her 
delicateness  of  feature  and  coloring,  the  gliding  motion 
of  her  form  combined  to  throw  him  instantly  into  a  state 
of  intoxication.  He  rushed  toward  her;  she  halted, 
shivered,  shrank.  "  Don't  —  look  at  me  like  that ! " 
she  exclaimed  half  under  her  breath. 

"  And  why  not?  Aren't  you  mine?  "  And  he  seized 
her,  enwrapped  her  in  his  arms,  pressed  his  lips  firmly 
upon  her  hair,  her  cheek  —  upon  her  lips.  There  he 
lingered ;  her  eyes  closed,  her  form,  he  felt,  was  yielding 
within  his  embrace  as  though  she  were  about  to  faint. 

"  Don't  —  please,"  she  murmured,  when  he  let  her 
catch  her  breath.  "  I  —  I  —  can't  bear  it." 

"  Do  you  love  me?  "  he  cried  passionately. 

"  Let  me  go ! "  She  struggled  f  utilely  in  his  plow 
man  arms. 

"  Say  you  love  me !  " 

"  If  you  don't  let  me  go  I  shall  hate  you !  " 

"  I  see  I  shall  have  to  kiss  you  until  you  do  love 
me." 

"  Yes  —  yes  —  whatever  you  wish  me  to  say,"  she 
217 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

cried,  suddenly  freeing  herself  by  dodging  most  undig- 
nifiedly  out  of  his  arms. 

She  stood  a  little  way  from  him,  panting,  as  was  he. 
She  frowned  fiercely,  then  her  eyes  softened,  became 
tender  —  just  why  she  could  not  have  explained. 
"  What  a  dirty  boy  it  is !  "  she  said  softly.  "  Go  into 
the  house  and  ask  Williams  to  take  you  where  you  can 
make  yourself  presentable." 

"  Not  I,"  said  he,  dropping  into  a  seat.  "  Come,  sit 
here  beside  me." 

She  laughed;  obeyed.  She  even  made  several  light 
passes  at  his  wet  mop  of  hair.  She  wondered  why  it  was 
that  she  liked  to  touch  him,  where  a  few  minutes  before 
she  had  shrunk  from  it. 

"  I've  just  been  down  telling  that  old  grandmother  of 
yours  what  I  thought  of  her,"  said  he. 

She  startled.  "  How  did  you  happen  to  go  there?  " 
she  exclaimed.  She  forgot  herself  so  completely  that 
she  added  imperiously :  "  I  wanted  you  to  keep  away 
from  her  until  I  was  ready  for  you  to  go." 

"  She  sent  for  me,"  apologized  he.  "  I  went.  We 
came  together  with  a  bang.  She  told  me  I  wanted  to 
marry  you;  I  told  her  you  wanted  to  marry  me.  She 
told  me  I  was  low ;  I  told  her  she  was  a  fraud.  She  said 
I  was  insolent;  I  said  good-afternoon.  If  I  hadn't 

218 


MAGGIE   AND   JOSH 


marched  out  rather  quickly  I  guess  she'd  have  had  me 
thrown  out." 

Margaret  was  sitting  stone-still,  her  hands  limp  in 
her  lap. 

"  So  you  see  it's  all  up,"  continued  he,  with  a  curious 
air  of  bravado,  patently  insincere.  "  And  it's  just  as 
well.  You  oughtn't  to  marry  me.  It's  a  crime  for  me 
to  have  permitted  things  to  go  this  far." 

"  Perhaps  you  are  right,"  replied  she  slowly  and 
thoughtfully.  "  Perhaps  you  are  right." 

He  made  one  of  his  exclamatory  gestures,  a  swift 
jerk  around  of  the  head  toward  her.  He  had  all  he  could 
do  to  restrain  himself  from  protesting,  without  regard 
to  his  pretenses  to  himself  and  to  her.  "  Do  you  mean 
that,  Maggie  ?  "  he  asked  with  more  appeal  in  his  voice 
than  he  was  conscious  of. 

"  Never  call  me  that  again ! "  she  cried.  "  It's  de 
testable  —  so  common !  " 

He  drew  back  as  if  she  had  struck  him.  "  I  beg  your 
pardon,"  he  said  with  gentle  dignity.  "  I  shall  not  do  it 
again.  Maggie  was  my  mother's  name  —  what  she  was 
always  called  at  home." 

She  turned  her  eyes  toward  him  with  a  kind  of  horror 
in  them.  "  Oh,  forgive  me ! "  she  begged,  her  clasped 
hands  upon  his  arm.  "  I  didn't  mean  it  at  all  —  not  at 

219 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

all.  It  is  I  that  am  detestable  and  common.  I  spoke 
that  way  because  I  was  irritated  about  something  else." 
She  laid  one  hand  caressingly  against  his  cheek.  "  You 
must  always  call  me  Maggie  —  when  —  when  " —  very 
softly  — "  you  love  me  very,  very  much.  I  like  you  to 
have  a  name  for  me  that  nobody  else  has." 

He  seized  her  hands.  "  You  do  care  for  me,  don't 
you?  "  he  cried. 

She  hesitated.  "  I  don't  quite  know,"  said  she.  Then, 
less  seriously :  "  Not  at  all,  I'm  sure,  when  you  talk  of 
breaking  the  engagement.  I  wish  you  hadn't  seen  grand 
mother!" 

"  I  wish  so,  too,"  confessed  he.  "  I  made  an  ass  of 
myself." 

She  glanced  at  him  quickly.  "  Why  do  you  say 
that?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  stammered  confusedly.  How 
could  he  tell  her? 

"  A  moment  ago  you  seemed  well  pleased  with  what 
you'd  done." 

"  Well,  I  guess  I  went  too  far.     I  wasn't  very  polite." 

"  You  never  are." 

"  I'm  going  to  try  to  do  better.  .  .  .  No,  I  don't 
think  it  would  be  wise  for  me  to  go  and  apologize  to 
her." 

220 


MAGGIE   AND   JOSH 


She  was  looking  at  him  strangely.  "  Why  are  you 
so  anxious  to  conciliate  her?  " 

He  saw  what  a  break  he  had  made,  became  all  at  once 
red  and  inarticulate. 

"  What  is  she  to  you?  "  persisted  the  girl. 

"  Nothing  at  all,"  he  blustered.  "  I  don't  care  — 
that  " —  he  snapped  his  fingers  — "for  her  opinion.  I 
don't  care  if  everybody  in  the  world  is  against  our 
marrying.  I  want  just  you  —  only  you." 

"  Obviously,"  said  she  with  a  dry  laugh  that  was 
highly  disconcerting  to  him.  "  I  certainly  have  no  for 
tune  —  or  hope  of  one,  so  far  as  I  know." 

This  so  astounded,  so  disconcerted  him  that  he  forgot 
to  conceal  it.  "  Why,  I  thought  —  your  grandmother 
—  that  is  — "  He  was  remembering,  was  stammering, 
was  unable  to  finish. 

"  Go  on,"  she  urged,  obviously  enjoying  his  hot  con 
fusion. 

He  became  suddenly  angry.  "  Look  here,  Margaret," 
he  cried,  "  you  don't  suspect  me  of  — " 

She  put  her  fingers  on  his  lips  and  laughed  quietly  at 

him.     "  You'd  better  run  along  now.     I'm  going  to 

hurry  away  to  grandmother,  to  try  to  repair  the  damage 

you  did."    She  rose  and  called,  "  Lucia !    Lucia !  " 

The  round,  rosy,  rather  slovenly  Miss  Severence  ap- 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

peared  in  the  little  balcony  —  the  only  part  of  the  house 
in  view  from  where  they  sat. 

"  Telephone  the  stables  for  the  small  victoria,"  called 
Margaret. 

"  Mother's  out  in  it,"  replied  Lucia. 

"  Then  the  small  brougham." 

"  I  want  that.     Why  don't  you  take  the  electric?  " 

"  All  right." 

Lucia  disappeared.  Margaret  turned  upon  the  deeply- 
impressed  Craig.  "  What's  the  matter?"  asked  she, 
though  she  knew. 

"  I  can't  get  used  to  this  carriage  business,"  said  he. 
"  I  don't  like  it.  Where  the  private  carriage  begins  j  ust 
there  democracy  ends.  It  is  the  parting  of  the  ways. 
People  who  are  driving  have  to  look  down ;  people  who 
aren't  have  to  look  up." 

"  Nonsense !  "  said  Margaret,  though  it  seemed  to  her 
to  be  the  truth. 

"  Nonsense,  of  course,"  retorted  Craig.  "  But  non 
sense  rules  the  world."  He  caught  her  roughly  by  the 
arm.  "  I  warn  you  now,  when  we  — " 

"  Run  along,  Josh,"  cried  she,  extricating  herself  and 
laughing,  and  with  a  wave  of  the  hand  she  vanished  into 
the  shrubbery.  As  soon  as  she  was  beyond  the  danger  of 
having  to  continue  that  curious  conversation  she  walked 

222 


less  rapidly.  "  I  wonder  what  he  really  thinks,"  she  said 
to  herself.  "  I  wonder  what  I  really  think.  I  suspect 
we'd  both  be  amazed  at  ourselves  and  at  each  other  if  we 
knew." 

Arrived  at  her  grandmother's  she  had  one  more  and 
huger  cause  for  wonder.  There  were  a  dozen  people  in 
the  big  salon,  the  old  lady  presiding  at  the  tea-table 
in  high  good  humor.  "  Ah  —  here  you  are,  Mar 
garet,"  cried  she.  "  Why  didn't  you  bring  your 
young  man  ?  " 

"  He's  too  busy  for  frivolity,"  replied  Margaret. 

"  I  saw  him  this  afternoon,"  continued  Madam 
Bowker,  talking  aside  to  her  alone  when  the  ripples  from 
the  new  stone  in  the  pond  had  died  away.  "  He's  what 
they  call  a  pretty  rough  customer.  But  he  has  his  good 
points." 

"  You  liked  him  better?  "  said  the  astonished  Mar 
garet. 

"  I  disliked  him  less,"  corrected  the  old  lady.  "  He's 
not  a  man  any  one  " —  this  with  emphasis  and  a  sharp 
glance  at  her  granddaughter  — "  likes.  He  neither  likes 
nor  is  liked.  He's  too  much  of  an  ambition  for  such 
petty  things.  People  of  purpose  divide  their  fellows  into 
two  classes,  the  useful  and  the  useless.  They  seek  allies 
among  the  useful,  they  avoid  the  useless." 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Margaret  laughed. 

"  Why  do  you  laugh,  child?  Because  you  don't  be 
lieve  it?" 

Margaret  sighed.  "  No,  because  I  don't  want  to 
believe  it." 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    EMBASSY    GARDEN    PARTY 

Craig  dined  at  the  Secretary  of  State's  that  night,  and 
reveled  in  the  marked  consideration  every  one  showed 
him.  He  knew  it  was  not  because  of  his  political  suc 
cesses,  present  and  impending;  in  the  esteem  of  that 
fashionable  company  his  success  with  Margaret  over 
topped  them.  And  while  he  was  there,  drinking  more 
than  was  good  for  him  and  sharing  in  the  general  self- 
complacence,  he  thought  so  himself.  But  waking  up 
about  three  in  the  morning,  with  an  aching  head  and  in 
the  depths  of  the  blues,  the  whole  business  took  on  again 
its  grimmest  complexion.  "  I'll  talk  it  over  again  with 
Grant,"  he  decided,  and  was  at  the  Arkwright  house  a 
few  minutes  after  eight. 

It  so  happened  that  Grant  himself  was  wakeful  that 
morning  and  had  got  up  about  half -past  seven.  When 
Craig  came  he  was  letting  his  valet  dress  him.  He  sent 
for  Craig  to  come  up  to  his  dressing-room.  "  You  can 
talk  to  me  while  Walter  shaves  me,"  said  Grant  from  the 
armchair  before  his  dressing  table.  He  was  spread  out 

225 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

luxuriously  and  Josh  watched  the  process  of  shaving  as 
if  he  had  never  seen  it  before.  Indeed,  he  never  had 
seen  a  shave  in  such  pomp  and  circumstance  of  sil 
ver  and  gold,  of  ivory  and  cut  glass,  of  essence  and 
powder. 

"  That's  a  very  ladylike  performance  for  two  men 
to  be  engaged  in,"  said  he. 

"  It's  damn  comfortable,"  answered  Grant  lazily. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  thing  you've  got  on  ?  " 

"  This  gown  ?  Oh,  Paris.  I  get  all  my  things  of  that 
sort  there.  Latterly  I  get  my  clothes  there,  too." 

"  I  like  that  thing,"  said  Craig,  giving  it  a  patroniz 
ing  jerk  of  his  head.  "  It  looks  cool  and  clean.  Linen 
and  silk,  isn't  it?  Only  I'd  choose  a  more  serviceable 
color  than  white.  And  I'd  not  have  a  pink  silk  lining 
and  collar  in  any  circumstances." 

He  wandered  about  the  room. 

"  Goshalimity ! "  he  exclaimed,  peering  into  a 
drawer.  "  You  must  have  a  million  neckties.  And " 
—  he  was  at  the  partly  open  door  of  a  huge  closet  — 
"  here's  a  whole  roomful  of  shirts  —  and  another  of 
clothes."  He  wheeled  abruptly  upon  the  smiling,  high 
ly-flattered  tenant  of  the  arm-chair.  "  Grant,  how 
many  suits  have  you  got  ?  " 

"  Blest  if  I  know.     How  many,  Walter?  " 
226 


THE  EMBASSY  GARDEN  PARTY 

"  I  really  cannot  say,  sir.  I  know  'em  all,  but  I  never 
counted  'em.  About  seventy  or  eighty,  I  should  say,  not 
counting  extra  trousers." 

Craig  looked  astounded.  "  And  how  many  shirts, 
Walter?  " 

"  Oh,  several  hundred  of  them,  sir.  Mr.  Grant's  most 
particular  about  his  linen." 

"  And  here  are  boots  and  shoes  and  pumps  and  gaiters 
and  Lord  knows  what  and  what  not  —  enough  to  stock  a 
shoe-store.  And  umbrellas  and  canes —  Good  God, 
man!  How  do  you  carry  all  that  stuff  round  on  your 
mind?  " 

Grant  laughed  like  a  tickled  infant.  All  this  was  as 
gratifying  to  his  vanity  as  applause  to  Craig's. 
"  Walter  looks  after  it,"  said  he. 

Craig  lapsed  into  silence,  stared  moodily  out  of  the 
window.  The  idea  of  his  thinking  of  marrying  a  girl  of 
Grant's  class !  What  a  ridiculous,  loutish  figure  he  would 
cut  in  her  eyes !  Why,  not  only  did  he  not  have  the 
articles  necessary  to  a  gentleman's  wardrobe,  he  did  not 
even  know  the  names  of  them,  nor  their  uses!  It  was 
all  very  well  to  pretend  that  these  matters  were  petty. 
In  a  sense  they  were.  But  that  sort  of  trifles  played  a 
most  important  part  in  life  as  it  was  led  by  Margaret 
Severence.  She'd  not  think  them  trifles.  She  was  prob- 

227 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

ably  assuming  that,  while  he  was  not  quite  up  to  the 
fashionable  standard,  still  he  had  a  gentleman's  equip 
ment  of  knowledge  and  of  toilet  articles.  "  She'd  think 
me  no  better  than  a  savage  —  and,  damn  it !  I'm  not 
much  above  the  savage  state,  as  far  as  this  side  of  life 
is  concerned." 

Grant  interrupted  his  mournful  musings  with :  "  Now, 
if  you'll  excuse  me,  I'll  have  my  bath." 

And,  Walter  following,  he  went  in  at  a  door  to  the 
right,  through  which  Craig  had  a  glimpse  of  marble 
walls  and  floor,  of  various  articles  of  more  than  Roman 
luxury.  The  moments  dragged  away  until  half  an  hour 
had  passed. 

"  What  the  devil !  "  Josh  called  out.  "  What  are  you 
doing  all  this  time?  " 

"  Massage,"  responded  Grant.     "  You  can  come  in." 

Craig  entered  the  marble  chamber,  seated  himself  on 
a  corner  of  the  warmed  marble  couch  on  which  Grant 
lay  luxuriating  in  Walter's  powerful  massage.  "  Do 
you  go  through  this  thing  often  ?  "  demanded  he. 

"  Every  morning  —  except  when  I'm  roughing  it. 
You  ought  to  take  massage,  Josh.  It's  great  for  the 
skin." 

Craig  saw  that  it  was.  His  own  skin,  aside  from  his 
hands  and  face,  was  fairly  smooth  and  white ;  but  it  was 

228 


THE  EMBASSY  GARDEN  PARTY 

like  sandpaper,  he  thought,  beside  this  firm,  rosy  cover 
ing  of  the  elegant  Arkwright's  elegant  body.  "  Get 
through  here  and  send  Walter  away,"  he  said  harshly. 
"  I  want  to  talk  to  you.  If  you  don't  I'll  burst  out 
before  him.  I  can't  hold  in  any  longer." 

"  Very  well.  That'll  do,  Walter,"  acquiesced  Grant. 
"  And  please  go  and  bring  us  some  breakfast.  I'll  finish 
dressing  afterward." 

As  soon  as  the  door  closed  on  the  valet,  Craig  said; 
"  Grant,  I've  got  myself  into  a  frightful  mess.  I  want 
you  to  help  me  out  of  it." 

Grant's  eyes  shifted.  He  put  on  his  white  silk 
pajamas,  thrust  his  feet  into  slippers,  tossed  the  silk- 
lined  linen  robe  about  his  broad,  too  square  shoulders, 
and  led  the  way  into  the  other  room.  Then  he  said: 
"  Do  you  mean  Margaret  Severence?  " 

"  That's  it ! "  exclaimed  Craig,  pacing  the  floor. 
"  I've  gone  and  got  myself  engaged  — " 

"  One  minute,"  interrupted  Arkwright  in  a  voice  so 
strange  that  Joshua  paused  and  stared  at  him.  "  I 
can't  talk  to  you  about  that." 

"  Why  not?  " 

"  For  many  reasons.  The  chief  one  —  Fact  is, 
Josh,  I've  acted  like  a  howling  skunk  about  you  with 
her.  I  ran  you  down  to  her ;  tried  to  get  her  myself." 

229 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Craig  waved  his  hand  impatiently.  "  You  didn't  suc 
ceed,  did  you?  And  you're  ashamed  of  it,  aren't  you? 
Well,  if  I  wasted  time  going  round  apologizing  for  all 
the  things  I'd  done  that  I'm  ashamed  of  I'd  have  no  time 
left  to  do  decently.  So  that's  out  of  the  way.  Now, 
help  me." 

"  What  a  generous  fellow  you  are ! " 

"  Generous  ?  Stuff !  I  need  you.  We're  going  to 
stay  friends.  You  can  do  what  you  damn  please  —  I'll 
like  you  just  the  same.  I  may  swat  you  if  you  get  in 
my  way ;  but  as  soon  as  you  were  out  of  it  —  and  that'd 
be  mighty  soon  and  sudden,  Grant,  old  boy  —  why,  I'd 
be  friends  again.  Come,  tell  me  how  I'm  to  get  clear  of 
this  engagement." 

"  I  can't  talk  about  it  to  you." 

"Why  not?" 

"  Because  I  love  her." 

Craig  gasped:    "  Do  you  mean  that?  " 

"  I  love  her  —  as  much  as  I'm  capable  of  loving  any 
body.  Didn't  I  tell  you  so?  " 

"  I  believe  you  did  say  something  of  the  kind,"  ad 
mitted  Craig.  "  But  I  was  so  full  of  my  own  affairs 
that  I  didn't  pay  much  attention  to  it.  Why  don't  you 
jump  in  and  marry  her?  " 

"  She  happens  to  prefer  you." 
230 


THE  EMBASSY  GARDEN  PARTY 

"  Yes,  she  does,"  said  Craig  with  a  complacence  that 
roiled  Arkwright.  "  I  don't  know  what  the  poor  girl 
sees  in  me,  but  she's  just  crazy  about  me." 

"Don't  be  an  ass,  Josh!"  cried  Grant  in  a  jealous 
fury. 

Craig  laughed  pleasantly.  "  I'm  stating  simple 
facts."  Then,  with  abrupt  change  to  earnestness,  "  Do 
you  suppose,  if  I  were  to  break  the  engagement,  she'd 
take  it  seriously  to  heart?  " 

"  I  fancy  she  could  live  through  it  if  you  could.  She 
probably  cares  no  more  than  you  do." 

"  There's  the  worst  of  it.  I  want  her,  Granl.  When 
I'm  with  her  I  can't  tolerate  the  idea  of  giving  her  up. 
But  how  in  the  mischief  can  I  marry  Tier?  I'm  too  strong 
a  dose  for  a  frail,  delicate  little  thing  like  her." 

"  She's  as  tall  as  you  are.  I've  seen  her  play  athletes 
to  a  standstill  at  tennis." 

"  But  she's  so  refined,  so  — " 

"Oh,  fudge!"  muttered  Arkwright.  Then  louder: 
"  Didn't  I  tell  you  not  to  talk  to  me  about  this  busi 
ness?  " 

"  But  I've  got  to  do  it,"  protested  Craig.  "  You're 
the  only  one  I  can  talk  to  —  without  being  a  cad." 

Arkwright  looked  disgusted.  "  You  love  the  girl,"  ' 
he  said  bitterly,  "  and  she  wants  you.  Marry  her." 

231 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  But  I  haven't  got  the  money." 

Craig  was  out  with  the  truth  at  last.  "  What  would 
we  live  on?  My  salary  is  only  seventy-five  hundred  dol 
lars.  If  I  get  the  Attorney-Generalship  it'll  be  only 
eight  thousand,  and  I've  not  got  twenty  thousand  dollars 
besides.  As  long  as  I'm  in  politics  I  can't  do  anything 
at  the  law.  All  the  clients  that  pay  well  are  clients  I'd 
not  dare  have  anything  to  do  with  —  I  may  have  to 
prosecute  them.  Grant,  I  used  to  think  Government 
salaries  were  too  big,  and  I  used  to  rave  against  office 
holders  fattening  on  the  people.  I  was  crazy.  How's  a 
man  to  marry  a  lady  and  live  like  a  gentleman  on  seven 
or  eight  thousand  a  year?  It  can't  be  done." 

"  And  you  used  to  rave  against  living  like  a  gentle 
man,"  thrust  Grant  maliciously. 

Craig  reddened.  "  There  it  is ! "  he  fairly  shouted. 
"  I'm  going  to  the  devil.  I'm  sacrificing  all  my  prin 
ciples.  That's  what  this  mixing  with  swell  people  and 
trying  to  marry  a  fashionable  lady  is  doing  for  me ! " 

"  You're  broadening  out,  you  mean.  You're  losing 
your  taste  for  tommy-rot." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Craig  surlily  and  stubbornly.  "I'll 
tell  you  what  I'm  going  to  do.  I'm  going  to  see  the  girl 
to-day  and  put  the  whole  case  before  her.  And  I  want 
you  to  back  me  up." 

232 


THE  EMBASSY  GARDEN  PARTY 

"  I'll  do  nothing  of  the  sort,"  cried  Grant.  "  How  can 
you  ask  such  a  thing  of  me?  " 

"  Yes,  you  must  go  with  me  to-day." 

"  I've  got  an  engagement  —  garden-party  at  the 
British  Embassy." 

"Going  there,  are  you?  .  .  .  Um!  .  .  . 
Well,  we'll  see." 

The  breakfast  came  and  Craig  ate  like  a  ditchdigger 
—  his  own  breakfast  and  most  of  Grant's.  Grant  barely 
touched  the  food,  lit  a  cigarette,  sat  regarding  the  full- 
mouthed  Westerner  gloomily.  "  What  did  Margaret  see 
in  this  man  ?  "  thought  Grant.  "  True,  she  doesn't 
know  him  as  well  as  I  do ;  but  she  knows  him  well  enough. 
Talk  about  women  being  refined!  Why,  they've  got 
ostrich  stomachs." 

"  Do  you  know,  Grant,"  said  Craig  thickly,  so  stuffed 
was  his  mouth,  "  I  think  your  refined  women  like  men  of 
my  sort.  I  know  I  can't  bear  anything  but  refined 
women.  Now,  you  —  you've  got  an  ostrich  stomach. 
I've  seen  you  quite  pleased  with  women  I'd  not  lay  my 
finger  on.  Yet  most  people'd  say  you  were  more  sensi 
tive  than  I.  Instead,  you're  much  coarser  — -  except 
about  piffling,  piddling,  paltry  non-essentials.  You 
strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel.  I  shouldn't  be 
a  bit  surprised  if  Margaret  had  penetrated  the  fact  that 

233 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

your  coarseness  is  in-bred  while  mine  is  near  surface. 
Women  have  a  surprising  way  of  getting  at  the  bottom 
of  things.  I'm  a  good  deal  like  a  woman  in  that  re 
spect  myself." 

Grant  thrust  a  cigar  upon  him,  got  him  out  of  the 
room  and  on  the  way  out  of  the  house  as  quickly  as 
possible.  "  Insufferable  egotist !  "  he  mumbled,  by  way 
of  a  parting  kick.  "  Why  do  I  like  him?  Damned  if  I 
believe  I  do !  " 

He  did  not  dress  until  late  that  afternoon,  but  lay  in 
his  rooms,  very  low  and  miserable.  When  he  issued  forth 
it  was  to  the  garden-party  —  and  immediately  he  ran 
into  Margaret  and  Craig,  apparently  lying  in  wait  for 
him.  "  Here  he  is !  "  exclaimed  Josh,  slapping  him  en 
thusiastically  on  the  back.  "  Grant,  Margaret  wants 
to  talk  with  you.  I  must  run  along."  And  before  either 
could  speak  he  had  darted  away,  plowing  his  way  rudely 
through  the  crowd. 

Margaret  and  Grant  watched  his  progress  —  she  smil 
ing,  he  surly  and  sneering.  "  Yet  you  like  him,"  said 
Margaret. 

"  In  a  way,  yes,"  conceded  Arkwright.  "  He  has  a 
certain  sort  of  magnetism."  He  pulled  himself  up  short. 
"  This  morning,"  said  he,  "  I  apologized  to  him  for  my 
treachery ;  and  here  I  am  at  it  again." 

234 


THE  EMBASSY  GARDEN  PARTY 

"  I  don't  mind,"  said  Margaret.  "  It's  quite  harm 
less." 

"  That's  it ! "  exclaimed  Grant  in  gloomy  triumph. 
"  You  can't  care  for  me  because  you  think  me  harm- 


"  Well,  aren't  you?  " 

"  Yes,"  he  admitted,  "  I  couldn't  give  anybody  —  at 
least,  not  a  blase  Washington  society  girl  —  anything 
approaching  a  sensation.  I  understand  the  mystery  at 
last." 

"  Do  you  ?  "  said  Margaret,  with  a  queer  expression 
in  her  eyes.  "  I  wish  I  did." 

Grant  reflected  upon  this,  could  make  nothing  of  it. 
"  I  don't  believe  you're  really  in  love  with  him,"  he 
finally  said. 

"  Was  that  what  you  told  him  you  wished  to  talk  to 
me  about?  " 

"  I  didn't  tell  him  I  wanted  to  talk  with  you,"  pro 
tested  Grant.  "  He  asked  me  to  try  to  persuade  you  not 
to  marry  him." 

"  Well  —  persuade !  " 

"  To  explain  how  coarse  he  is." 

"  How  coarse  is  he  ?  " 

"  To  dilate  on  the  folly  of  your  marrying  a  poor  man 
with  no  money  prospects." 

235 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  I'm  content  with  his  prospects  —  and  with  mine 
through  him." 

"  Seven  or  eight  thousand  a  year?  Your  dresses  cost 
much  more  than  that." 

"  No  matter." 

"  You  must  be  in  love  with  him!  " 

"  Women  take  strange  fancies." 

"  What's  the  matter,  Rita  ?  What  have  you  in  the 
back  of  your  mind?  " 

She  looked  straight  at  him.  "  Nothing  about  you. 
Not  the  faintest,  little  shadow  of  a  regret."  And  her 
hazel  eyes  smiled  mirth  of  the  kind  that  is  cruelest  from 
woman  to  man. 

"  How  exasperating  you  are !  " 

"  Perhaps  I've  caught  the  habit  from  my  man." 

"  Rita,  you  don't  even  like  me  any  more." 

"  No  —  candidly  —  I  don't." 

"  I  deserve  it." 

"  You  do.     I  can  never  trust  you  again." 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders ;  but  he  could  not  pretend 
that  he  was  indifferent.  "  It  seems  to  me,  if  Josh  for 
gave  me  you  might." 

"  I  do  —  forgive." 

*'  But  not  even  friendship  ?  " 

"  Not  even  friendship." 

236 


THE  EMBASSY  GARDEN  PARTY 

"  You  are  hard." 

"  I  am  hard." 

"  Rita !  For  God's  sake,  don't  marry  that  man !  You 
don't  love  him  —  you  know  you  don't.  At  times  you 
feel  you  can  hardly  endure  him.  You'll  be  miserable  — 
in  every  way.  And  I  —  At  least  I  can  give  you  ma 
terial  happiness." 

She  smiled  —  a  cold,  enigmatic  smile  that  made  her 
face  seem  her  grandmother's  own  peering  through  a 
radiant  mask  of  youth.  She  glanced  away,  around  — 
"  Ah !  there  are  mamma  and  Augusta  Burke."  And  she 
left  him  to  join  them. 

He  wandered  out  of  the  garden,  through  the  thronged 
corridors,  into  the  street,  knocking  against  people,  see 
ing  no  one,  not  heeding  the  frequent  salutations.  He 
went  to  the  Wyandotte,  to  Craig's  tawdry,  dingy  sitting- 
room,  its  disorder  now  apparently  beyond  possibility  of 
righting.  Craig,  his  coat  and  waistcoat  off,  his  detach 
able  cuffs  on  the  floor,  was  burrowing  into  masses  of 
huge  law-books. 

"  Clear  out,"  said  he  curtly ;  "  I'm  busy." 

Grant  plumped  himself  into  a  chair.  "  Josh,"  cried 
he  desperately,  "  you  must  marry  that  girl.  She's  just 
the  one  for  you.  I  love  her,  and  her  happiness  is  dear 
to  me." 

237 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Craig  gave  him  an  amused  look.  "  However  did  she 
persuade  you  to  come  here  and  say  that  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  She  didn't  persuade  me.  She  didn't  mention  it.  All 
she  said  was  that  she  had  wiped  me  off  the  slate  even 
as  a  friend." 

Craig  laughed  uproariously.  "  That  was  how  she  did 
it  —  eh?  She's  a  deep  one." 

"  Josh,"  said  Arkwright,  "  you  need  a  wife,  and  she's 
it." 

"  Right  you  are,"  exclaimed  Craig  heartily.  "  I'm 
one  of  those  surplus-steam  persons  —  have  to  make  an 
ass  of  myself  constantly,  indulging  in  the  futility  of 
blowing  off  steam.  Oughtn't  to  do  it  publicly  —  creates 
false  impression.  Got  to  have  a  wife  —  no  one  else  but 
a  wife  always  available  and  bound  to  be  discreet.  Out 
with  you.  I'm  too  busy  to  talk  —  even  about  myself." 

"  You  will  marry  her?  " 

"  Like  to  see  anybody  try  to  stop  me !  " 

He  pulled  Arkwright  from  the  chair,  thrust  him  into 
the  hall,  slammed  the  door.  And  Arkwright,  in  a  more 
hopeful  frame  of  mind,  went  home.  "  I'll  do  my  best 
to  get  back  her  respect  —  and  my  own,"  said  he.  "  I've 
been  a  dog,  and  she's  giving  me  the  whipping  I  de 
serve." 


238 


CHAPTER  XVI 

A  FIGHT  AND  A  FINISH 

In  his  shrewd  guess  at  Margaret's  reason  for  dealing 
so  summarily  with  Arkwright,  Craig  was  mistaken,  as 
the  acutest  of  us  usually  are  in  attributing  motives.  He 
had  slowly  awakened  to  the  fact  that  she  was  not  a  mere 
surface,  but  had  also  the  third  dimension  —  depth,  which 
distinguishes  persons  from  people.  Whenever  he  tried  to 
get  at  what  she  meant  by  studying  what  she  did,  he  fell 
into  the  common  error  of  judging  her  by  himself,  and 
of  making  no  allowance  for  the  sweeter  and  brighter  side 
of  human  nature,  which  was  so  strong  in  her  that,  in 
happier  circumstances,  the  other  side  would  have  been 
mere  rudiment. 

Her  real  reason  for  breaking  with  Grant  was  a  desire 
to  be  wholly  honorable  with  Craig.  She  resolved  to 
burn  her  bridges  toward  Arkwright,  to  put  him  entirely 
out  of  her  mind  —  as  she  had  not  done  theretofore ;  for 
whenever  she  had  grown  weary  of  Craig's  harping  on 
her  being  the  aggressor  in  the  engagement  and  not  him 
self,  or  whenever  she  had  become  irritated  against  him 

239 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

through  his  rasping  mannerisms  she  had  straightway 
begun  to  revolve  Arkwright  as  a  possible  alternative. 
Craig's  personality  had  such  a  strong  effect  on  her, 
caused  so  many  moods  and  reactions,  that  she  was  abso 
lutely  unable  to  tell  what  she  really  thought  of  him. 
Also,  when  she  was  so  harassed  by  doubt  as  to  whether 
the  engagement  would  end  in  marriage  or  in  a  humilia 
tion  of  jilting,  when  her  whole  mind  was  busy  with  the 
problem  of  angling  him  within  the  swoop  of  the  matri 
monial  net,  how  was  she  to  find  leisure  to  examine  her 
heart?  Whether  she  wanted  him  or  simply  wanted  a 
husband  she  could  not  have  said. 

She  felt  that  his  eccentric  way  of  treating  the  en 
gagement  would  justify  her  in  keeping  Arkwright  in 
reserve.  But  she  was  finding  that  there  were  limits  to 
her  ability  to  endure  her  own  self-contempt,  and  she 
sacrificed  Grant  to  her  outraged  self-respect.  Possibly 
she  might  have  been  less  conscientious  had  she  not  come 
to  look  on  Grant  as  an  exceedingly  pale  and  shadowy 
personality,  a  mere  vague  expression  of  well-bred 
amiability,  male  because  trousered,  identifiable  chiefly  by 
the  dollar  mark. 

Her  reward  seemed  immediate.  There  came  a  day 
when  Craig  was  all  devotion,  was  talking  incessantly  of 
their  future,  was  never  once  doubtful  or  even  low- 

240 


A   FIGHT  AND   A   FINISH 

spirited.  It  was  simply  a  question  of  when  they  would 
marry  —  whether  as  soon  as  Stillwater  fixed  his  date 
for  retiring,  or  after  Craig  was  installed.  She  had  to 
listen  patiently  to  hours  on  hours  of  discussion  as  to 
which  would  be  the  better  time.  She  had  to  seem  inter 
ested,  though  from  the  viewpoint  of  her  private  pur 
poses  nothing  could  have  been  less  important.  She  had 
no  intention  of  permitting  him  to  waste  his  life  and  hers 
in  the  poverty  and  uncertainty  of  public  office,  strug 
gling  for  the  applause  of  mobs  one  despised  as  individ 
uals  and  would  not  permit  to  cross  one's  threshold.  But 
she  had  to  let  him  talk  on  and  on,  and  yet  on.  In  due 
season,  when  she  was  ready  to  speak  and  he  to  hear,  she 
would  disclose  to  him  the  future  she  had  mapped  out  for 
him,  not  before.  He  discoursed;  she  listened.  At  in 
tervals  he  made  love  in  his  violent,  terrifying  way ;  she 
endured,  now  half -liking  it,  now  half -hating  it  and  him, 
but  always  enduring,  passive,  as  became  a  modest,  in 
experienced  maiden,  and  with  never  a  suggestion  of  her 
real  thoughts  upon  her  surface. 

It  was  the  morning  after  one  of  these  outbursts  of 
his,  one  of  unusual  intensity,  one  that  had  so  worn  upon 
her  nerves  that,  all  but  revolted  by  the  sense  of  sick 
satiety,  she  had  come  perilously  near  to  indulging  her 
self  in  the  too  costly  luxury  of  telling  him  precisely  what 

241 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

she  thought  of  him  and  his  conduct.  She  was  in  bed, 
with  the  blinds  just  up,  and  the  fair,  early-summer  world 
visioning  itself  to  her  sick  heart  like  Paradise  to  the 
excluded  Peri  at  its  barred  gate.  "  And  if  he  had  given 
me  half  a  chance  I'd  have  loved  him,"  she  was  thinking. 
"  I  dp  believe  in  him,  and  admire  his  strength  and  his 
way  of  never  accepting  defeat.  But  how  can  I  —  how 
can  I  —  when  he  makes  me  the  victim  of  these  ruffian 
moods  of  his?  I  almost  think  the  Frenchman  was  right 
who  said  that  every  man  ought  to  have  two  wives. 
.  .  .  Not  that  at  times  he  doesn't  attract  me  that 
way.  But  because  one  likes  champagne  one  does  not 
wish  it  by  the  cask.  A  glass  now  and  then,  or  a  bottle  — 
perhaps  — "  Aloud:  "  What  is  it,  Selina?  " 

"  A  note  for  you,  ma'am,  from  him.  It's  marked  im 
portant  and  immediate.  You  told  me  not  to  disturb  you 
with  those  marked  important,  nor  with  those  marked 
immediate.  But  you  didn't  say  what  to  do  about  those 
marked  both." 

"  The  same,"  said  Margaret,  stretching  herself  out  at 
full  length,  and  snuggling  her  head  into  the  softness  of 
her  perfumed  hair.  "  But  now  that  you've  brought  it 
thus  far,  let  me  have  it." 

Selina  laid  it  on  the  silk  and  swansdown  quilt  and  de 
parted.  Margaret  forgot  that  it  was  there  in  thinking 


A    FIGHT   AND   A    FINISH 

about  a  new  dress  she  was  planning,  an  adaptation  of  a 
French  model.  As  she  turned  herself  it  fell  to  the  floor. 
She  reached  down,  picked  it  up,  opened  it,  read: 

"  It's  no  use.  Fate's  against  us.  I  find  the 
President  is  making  my  marriage  the  excuse  for 
not  appointing  me.  How  lucky  we  did  not  an 
nounce  the  engagement.  This  is  a  final  good-by. 
I  shall  keep  out  of  your  way.  It's  useless  for 
you  to  protest.  I  am  doing  what  is  best  for  us 
both.  Thank  me,  and  forget  me." 

She  leaped  from  the  bed  with  one  bound,  and,  bare 
of  foot  and  in  her  nightgown  only,  rushed  to  the  tele 
phone.  She  called  up  the  Arkwrights,  asked  for  Grant. 
"  Wake  him,"  she  said.  "  If  he  is  still  in  bed  tell  him 
Miss  Severence  wishes  to  speak  to  him  at  once." 

Within  a  moment  Grant's  agitated  voice  was  coming 
over  the  wire:  "  Is  that  you,  Rita?  What  is  the  mat 
ter?  " 

"  Come  out  here  as  soon  as  you  can.  How  long  will 
it  be?" 

"  An  hour.     I  really  must  shave." 

"  In  an  hour,  then.     Good-by." 

Before  the  end  of  the  hour  she  was  pacing  her  favorite 
243 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

I  walk  in  the  garden,  impatiently  watching  the  point  where 
he  would  appear.  At  sight  of  her  face  he  almost  broke 
into  a  run.  "  What  is  it,  Margaret  ?  "  he  cried. 

"  What  have  you  been  saying  to  Josh  Craig?  "  she 
demanded. 

"  Nothing,  I  swear.  I've  been  keeping  out  of  his 
way.  He  came  to  see  me  this  morning  — ;  called  me 
a  dozen  times  on  the  telephone,  too.  But  I  refused 
him." 

She  reflected.  "  I  want  you  to  go  and  bring  him 
here,"  she  said  presently.  "  No  matter  what  he  says, 
bring  him." 

"When?" 

"  Right  away." 

"  If  I  have  to  use  force."    And  Grant  hastened  away. 

Hardly  had  he  gone  when  Williams  appeared,  carry 
ing  a  huge  basket  of  orchids.  "  They  just  came,  ma'am. 
I  thought  you'd  like  to  see  them." 

"  From  Mr.  Arkwright?  " 

"  No,  ma'am ;  Mr.  Craig." 

"  Craig?  "  ejaculated  Margaret. 

"  Yes,  Miss  Rita." 

"  Craig,"  repeated  Margaret,  but  in  a  very  different 
tone  —  a  tone  of  immense  satisfaction  and  relief.  She 
waved  her  hand  with  a  smile  of  amused  disdain.  "  Take 

244 


A    FIGHT   AND   A    FINISH 

them  into  the  house,  but  not  to  my  room.  Put  them  in 
Miss  Lucia's  sitting-room." 

Williams  had  just  gone  when  into  the  walk  rushed 
Grant  and  Craig.  Their  faces  were  so  flurried,  so  full 
of  tragic  anxiety  that  Margaret,  stopping  short,  laughed 
out  loud.  "  You  two  look  as  if  you  had  come  to  view 
the  corpse." 

"  I  passed  Craig  on  his  way  here,"  explained  Grant, 
"  and  took  him  into  my  machine." 

"  I  was  not  on  my  way  here,"  replied  Josh  loftily. 
"  I  was  merely  taking  a  walk.  He  asked  me  to  get  in  and 
brought  me  here  in  spite  of  my  protests." 

"  You  were  on  the  road  that  leads  here,"  insisted  Ark- 
wright  with  much  heat. 

"  I  repeat  I  was  simply  taking  a  walk,"  insisted  Craig. 
He  had  not  once  looked  at  Margaret. 

"  No  matter,"  said  Margaret  in  her  calm,  distant  way. 
"  You  may  take  him  away,  Grant.  And  " —  here  she 
suddenly  looked  at  Craig,  a  cold,  haughty  glance  that 
seemed  to  tear  open  an  abysmal  gulf  between  them  — "  I 
do  not  wish  to  see  you  again.  I  am  done  with  you.  I 
have  been  on  the  verge  of  telling  you  so  many  times  of 
late." 

"  Is  that  what  you  sent  Grant  after  me  to  tell  me?  " 

"  No,"  answered  she.  "  I  sent  him  on  an  impulse 
245 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

to  save  the  engagement.  But  while  he  was  gone  it  sud 
denly  came  over  me  that  you  were  right  —  entirely  right. 
I  accept  your  decision.  You're  afraid  to  marry  me  be 
cause  of  your  political  future.  I'm  afraid  to  marry  you 
because  of  my  stomach.  You  —  nauseate  me.  I've  been 
under  some  kind  of  hideous  spell.  I'm  free  of  it  now.  I 
see  you  as  you  are.  I  am  ashamed  of  myself." 

"  I  thought  so !  I  knew  it  would  come !  "  exclaimed 
Arkwright  triumphantly. 

Craig,  who  had  been  standing  like  a  stock,  suddenly 
sprang  into  action.  He  seized  Arkwright  by  the  throat 
and  bore  him  to  the  ground.  "  I've  got  to  kill  some 
thing,"  he  yelled.  "  Why  not  you  ?  " 

This  unexpected  and  vulgar  happening  completely 
upset  Margaret's  pride  and  demolished  her  dignified 
pose.  She  gazed  in  horror  at  the  two  men  struggling, 
brute-like,  upon  the  grass.  Her  refined  education  had 
made  no  provision  for  such  an  emergency.  She  rushed 
forward,  seized  Craig  by  the  shoulders.  "  Get  up ! " 
she  cried  contemptuously,  and  she  dragged  him  to  his 
feet.  She  shook  him  fiercely.  "  Now  get  out  of  here ; 
and  don't  you  dare  come  back  !  " 

Craig  laughed  loudly.  A  shrewd  onlooker  might  have 
suspected  from  his  expression  that  he  had  deliberately 
created  a  diversion  of  confusion,  and  was  congratulat- 

246 


'  I've  got  to  kill  something,'  he  yelled.     '  Why  not  you?  '  ' 


A    FIGHT   AND   A    FINISH 

ing  himself  upon  its  success.  "  Get  out?  "  cried  he. 
"  Not  I.  I  go  where  I  please  and  stay  as  long  as  I 
please." 

Arkwright  was  seated  upon  the  grass,  readjusting  his 
collar  and  tie.  "  What  a  rotten  coward  you  are ! "  he 
said  to  Craig,  "  to  take  me  off  guard  like  that." 

"  It  was  a  low  trick,"  admitted  Josh,  looking  down 
at  him  genially.  "  But  I'm  so  crazy  I  don't  know  what 
I'm  doing." 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  do ;  you  wanted  to  show  off,"  answered 
Grant. 

But  Craig  had  turned  to  Margaret  again.  "  Read 
that,"  he  commanded,  and  thrust  a  newspaper  clipping 
into  her  hand.  It  was  from  one  of  the  newspapers  of 
his  home  town  —  a  paper  of  his  own  party,  but  un 
friendly  to  him.  It  read: 

"  Josh  Craig's  many  friends  here  will  be  glad  to 
hear  that  he  is  catching  on  down  East.  With  his 
Government  job  as  a  stepping-stone  he  has  sprung 
into  what  he  used  to  call  plutocratic  society  in 
Washington,  and  is  about  to  marry  a  young  lady 
who  is  in  the  very  front  of  the  push.  He  will  re 
tire  from  politics,  from  head-hunting  among  the 
plutocrats,  and  will  soon  be  a  plutocrat  and  a 
247 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

palace-dweller  himself.  Success  to  you,  Joshua. 
The  '  pee-pul '  have  lost  a  friend  —  in  the  usual 
way.  As  for  us,  we've  got  the  right  to  say,  *  I 
told  you  so,'  but  we'll  be  good  and  refrain." 

"  The  President  handed  me  that  last  night,"  said 
Craig,  when  he  saw  that  her  glance  was  on  the  last  line. 
"  And  he  told  me  he  had  decided  to  ask  Stillwater  to 
stay  on." 

Margaret  gave  the  clipping  to  Grant.  "  Give  it  to 
him,"  she  said  and  started  toward  the  house. 

Craig  sprang  before  her.  "  Margaret,"  he  cried, 
"  can  you  blame  me?  " 

"  No,"  said  she,  and  there  was  no  pose  in  her  manner 
now ;  it  was  sincerely  human.  "  I  pity  you."  She 
waved  him  out  of  her  path  and,  with  head  bent,  he 
obeyed  her. 

The  two  men  gazed  aftei  her.  Arkwright  was  first 
to  speak :  "  Well,  you've  got  what  you  wanted." 

Craig  slowly  lifted  his  circled,  bloodshot  eyes  to  Ark 
wright.  "  Yes,"  said  he  hoarsely,  "  I've  got  what  I 
wanted." 

*  Not  exactly  in  the  way  a  gentleman  would  like  to 
get  it,"  pursued  Grant.  "  But  you  don't  mind  a  trifle 
of  that  sort." 

248 


A    FIGHT   AND   A    FINISH 

"  No,"  said  Craig,  "  I  don't  mind  a  trifle  of  that  sort^ 
'  Bounder  Josh  ' —  that's  what  they  call  me,  isn't  it?  " 

"  When  they're  frank  they  do." 

Craig  drew  a  long  breath,  shook  himself  like  a  man 
gathering  himself  together  after  a  stunning  blow.  He 
reflected  a  moment.  "  Come  along,  Grant.  I'm  going 
back  in  your  machine." 

"  The  driver'll  take  you,"  replied  Arkwright  stiffly., 
"  I  prefer  to  walk." 

"  Then  we'll  walk  back  together." 

"  We  will  not !  "  said  Arkwright  violently.  "  And 
after  this  morning  the  less  you  say  to  me  the  better 
pleased  I'll  be,  and  the  less  you'll  impose  upon  the  obliga 
tion  I'm  under  to  you  for  having  saved  my  life  once." 

"  You  treacherous  hound,"  said  Craig  pleasantly. 
"  Where  did  you  get  the  nerve  to  put  on  airs  with  me?' 
What  would  you  have  done  to  her  in  the  same  circum 
stances?  Why,  you'd  have  sneaked  and  lied  out  of  it. 
And  you  dare  to  scorn  me  because  I've  been  frank  and 
direct !  Come !  I'll  give  you  another  chance.  Will  you 
take  me  back  to  town  in  your  machine?  " 

A  pause,  Craig's  fierce  gaze  upon  Grant,  Grant's  upon 
the  ground.  Then  Grant  mumbled  surlily :  "  Come 
on." 

When  they  were  passing  the  front  windows  of  the 
249 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

house  Craig  assumed  that  Margaret  was  hiding  some 
where  there,  peering  out  at  them.  But  he  was  wrong. 
She  was  in  her  room,  was  face  down  upon  her  bed,  sob 
bing  as  if  her  first  illusion  had  fallen,  had  dashed  to 
pieces,  crushing  her  heart  under  it. 


250 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A  NIGHT  MARCH 

Arkwright  saw  no  one  but  his  valet-masseur  for  sev 
eral  days ;  on  the  left  side  of  his  throat  the  marks  of 
Craig's  fingers  showed  even  above  the  tallest  of  his  ex 
tremely  tall  collars.  From  the  newspapers  he  gathered 
that  Margaret  had  gone  to  New  York  on  a  shopping  trip 
—  had  gone  for  a  stay  of  two  or  three  weeks.  When  the 
adventure  in  the  garden  was  more  than  a  week  into  the 
past,  as  he  was  coming  home  from  a  dinner  toward  mid 
night  he  jumped  from  his  electric  brougham  into  Craig's 
arms. 

"  At  last ! "  exclaimed  Josh,  leading  the  way  up  the 
Arkwright  steps  and  ringing  the  bell.  Grant  muttered  a 
curse  under  his  breath.  When  the  man  had  opened  the 
door,  "  Come  in,"  continued  Josh  loudly  and  cheerily, 
leading  the  way  into  the  house. 

"  You'd  think  it  was  his  house,  by  gad ! "  muttered 
Grant. 

"  I've  been  walking  up  and  down  before  the  entrance 
251 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

for  an  hour.  The  butler  asked  me  in,  but  I  hate 
walls  and  roof.  The  open  for  me  —  the  wide,  wide 
open !" 

"  Not  so  loud,"  growled  Arkwright.  "  The  family's 
in  bed.  Wait  till  we  get  to  my  part  of  the  house." 

When  they  were  there,  with  doors  closed  and  the 
lights  on,  Craig  exhaled  his  breath  as  noisily  as  a  blown 
swimmer.  "  What  a  day !  What  a  day ! "  he  half- 
shouted,  dropping  on  the  divan  and  thrusting  his  feet 
into  the  rich  and  rather  light  upholstery  of  a  near-by 
chair. 

Grant  eyed  the  feet  gloomily.  He  was  proud  of  his 
furniture  and  as  careful  of  it  as  any  old  maid. 

"  Go  ahead,  change  your  clothes,"  cried  Josh.  "  I 
told  your  motorman  not  to  go  away." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  Arkwright  demanded,  his 
temper  boiling  at  the  rim  of  the  pot. 

"  I  told  him  before  you  got  out.  You  see,  we're  going 
to  New  York  to-night  —  or  rather  this  morning.  Train 
starts  at  one  o'clock.  I  met  old  Roebuck  at  the  White 
House  to-night  —  found  he  was  going  by  special  train 
—  asked  him  to  take  us." 

"  Not  I,"  said  Arkwright.  "  No  New  York  for  me. 
I'm  busy  to-morrow.  Besides,  I  don't  want  to  go." 

"  Of  course  you  don't,"  laughed  Craig,  and  Ark- 
252 


A  NIGHT  MARCH 


wright  now  noted  that  he  was  in  the  kind  of  dizzy  spirits 
that  most  men  can  get  only  by  drinking  a  very  great 
deal  indeed.  "  Of  course  you  don't.  No  more  do  I. 
But  I've  got  to  go  —  and  so  have  you." 

"  What  for?  " 

"  To  help  me  get  married." 

Grant  could  only  gape  at  him. 

"  Don't  you  know  Margaret  has  gone  to  New  York  ?  " 

"  I  saw  it  in  the  paper,  but  — " 

"  Now,  don't  go  back  a  week  to  ancient  history." 

"  I  don't  believe  it,"  foamed  Grant,  so  distracted  that 
he  sprang  up  and  paced  the  floor,  making  wild  gestures 
with  his  arms  and  head. 

Craig  watched,  seemed  hugely  amused.  "  You'll  see,, 
about  noon  to-morrow.  You've  got  to  put  in  the  morn 
ing  shopping  for  me.  I  haven't  got  —  You  know  what 
sort  of  a  wardrobe  mine  is.  Wardrobe?  Hand  satchel! 
Carpet-bag!  Rag-bag!  If  I  took  off  my  shoes  you'd 
see  half  the  toes  of  one  foot  and  all  the  heel  of  the  other. 
And  only  my  necktie  holds  this  collar  in  place.  Both 
buttonholes  are  gone.  As  for  my  underclothes  —  but 
I'll  spare  you  these." 

"  Yes,  do,"  said  Grant  with  a  vicious  sneer. 

"  Now,  you've  got  to  buy  me  a  complete  outfit.'* 
Craig  drew  a  roll  of  bills  from  his  pocket,  counted  off 

253 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

several,  threw  them  on  the  table.  "  There's  four  hun 
dred  dollars,  all  I  can  afford  to  waste  at  present.  Make 
it  go  as  far  as  you  can.  Get  a  few  first-class  things, 
the  rest  decent  and  substantial,  but  not  showy.  I'll  pay 
for  the  suits  I've  got  to  get.  They'll  have  to  be  ready- 
made —  and  very  good  ready-made  ones  a  man  can  buy 
nowadays.  We'll  go  to  the  tailor's  first  thing  —  about 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  which'll  give  him  plenty  of 
time  for  alterations." 

"  I  won't !  "  exploded  Grant,  stopping  his  restless 
pacing  and  slamming  himself  on  to  a  chair. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  will,"  asserted  Craig,  with  absolute 
confidence.  "  You're  not  going  back  on  me." 

"  There's  nothing  in  this  —  nothing !  I've  known 
Rita  Severence  nearly  twenty  years,  and  I  know  she's 
done  with  you." 

Craig  sprang  to  his  feet,  went  over  and  laid  his  heavy 
hand  heavily  upon  Arkwright's  shoulder.  "  And,"  said 
he,  "  you  know  me.  Did  I  ever  say  a  thing  that  didn't 
prove  to  be  true,  no  matter  how  improbable  it  seemed  to 
you?" 

Arkwright  was  silent. 

"  Grant,"  Craig  went  on,  and  his  voice  was  gentle  and 
moving,  "  I  need  you.  I  must  have  you.  You  won't 
fail  me,  will  you,  old  pal?  " 


A  NIGHT  MARCH 


"  Oh,  hell  1  —  I'll  go,"  said  Grant  in  a  much-softened 
growl.  "  But  I  know  it's  a  wild-goose  chase.  Still, -you 
do  need  the  clothes.  You're  a  perfect  disgrace." 

Craig  took  away  his  hand  and  burst  into  his  noisy, 
boyish  laughter,  so  reminiscent  of  things  rural  and 
boorish,  of  the  coarse,  strong  spirits  of  the  happy-go- 
lucky,  irresponsibles  that  work  as  field  hands  and  wood- 
haulers.  "  By  cracky,  Grant,  I  just  got  sight  of  the 
remnants  of  that  dig  I  gave  you.  It  was  a  beauty, 
wasn't  it?" 

Arkwright  moved  uneasily,  fumbled  at  his  collar,  tried 
to  smile  carelessly. 

"  I  certainly  am  the  luckiest  devil,"  Craig  went  on. 
"  Now,  what  a  stroke  pushing  you  over  and  throttling 
you  was !  "  And  he  again  laughed  loudly. 

"  I  don't  follow  you,"  said  Grant  sourly. 

"  What  a  vanity  box  you  are !  You  can't  take  a  joke. 
Now,  they're  always  poking  fun  at  me  —  pretty  damn 
nasty!  some  of  it  —  but  don't  I  always  look  cheer 
ful?" 

"  Oh  —  you!"  exclaimed  Grant  in  disgust. 

"  And  do  you  know  why  ?  "  demanded  Craig,  giving 
him  a  rousing  slap  on  the  knee.  "  When  I  find  it  hard 
to  laugh  I  begin  to  think  of  the  greatest  joke  of  all  — 
the  joke  I'll  have  on  these  merry  boys  when  the  cards 

255 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

are  all  played  and  I  sweep  the  tables.  I  think  of  that, 
and,  by  gosh,  I  fairly,  roar!" 

"  Do  you  talk  that  way  to  convince  yourself?  " 

Craig's  eyes  were  suddenly  shrewd.  "  Yes,"  said  he, 
"  and  to  convince  you,  and  a  lot  of  other  weak-minded 
people  who  believe  all  they  hear.  You'll  find  out  some 
<lay  that  the  world  thinks  with  its  ears  and  its  mouth, 
my  boy.  But,  as  I  say,  who  but  I  could  have  tumbled 
into  such  luck  as  came  quite  accidentally  out  of  that  lit 
tle  *  rough-house  '  of  mine  at  your  expense?  " 

"  Don't  see  it,"  said  Grant. 

"  Why,  can't  you  see  that  it  puts  you  out  of  business 
with  Margaret?  She's  not  the  sort  of  woman  to  take  to 
the  fellow  that  shows  he's  the  weaker." 

"Well,  I'll  be  —  damned!"  gasped  Arkwright. 
"  You  have  got  your  nerve !  To  say  such  a  thing  to  a 
man  you've  just  asked  a  favor  of." 

"  Not  at  all,"  cried  Craig  airily.  "  Facts  are  facts. 
Why  deny  them?" 

Arkwright  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "Well,  let  it 
pass.  .  .  .  Whether  it's  settled  me  with  her  or  not, 
it  somehow  —  curiously  enough  —  settled  her  with  me. 
Do  you  know,  Josh,  I've  had  no  use  for  her  since.  I 
can't  explain  it." 

"  Vanity,"  said  Craig.  "  You  are  vain,  like  all  people 
256 


A  NIGHT  MARCH 


who  don't  talk  about  themselves.  The  whole  human  race 
is  vain  —  individually  and  collectively.  Now,  if  a  man 
talks  about  himself  as  I  do,  why,  his  vanity  froths  away 
harmlessly.  But  you  and  your  kind  suffer  from  ingrow 
ing  vanity.  You  think  of  nothing  but  yourselves  —  how 
you  look  —  how  you  feel  —  how  yqu  are  impressing 
others  —  what  you  can  get  for  yourself  —  self  —  self 
—  self,  day  and  night.  You  don't  like  Margaret  any 
more  because  she  saw  you  humiliated.  Where  would  I 
be  if  I  were  like  that?  Why,  I'd  be  dead  or  hiding  in 
the  brush ;  for  I've  had  nothing  but  insults,  humiliations, 
sneers,  snubs,  all  my  life.  Crow's  my  steady  diet,  old 
pal.  And  I  fatten  and  flourish  on  it." 

Grant  was  laughing,  with  a  choke  in  his  throat. 
"  Josh,"  said  he,  "  you're  either  more  or  less  than 
human." 

"  Both,"  said  Craig.  "  Grant,  we're  wasting  time. 
Walter !  "  That  last  in  a  stentorian  shout. 

The  valet  appeared.     "  Yes,  Mr.  Craig." 

"  Pack  your  friend  Grant,  here,  for  two  days  in  New 
York.  He's  going  to-night  and  —  I  guess  you'd  better 
come  along." 

Arkwright  threw  up  his  hands  in  a  gesture  of  mock 
despair.  "  Do  as  he  says,  Walter.  He's  the  boss." 

"  Now  you're  talking  sense,"  said  Craig.  "  Some  day 
257 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

you'll  stand  before  kings  for  this  —  or  sit,  as  you 
please." 

On  their  way  out  Josh  fished  from  the  darkness  under 
the  front  stairs  a  tattered  and  battered  suitcase  and 
handed  it  to  Walter.  "  It's  my  little  all,"  he  explained 
to  Grant.  "  I've  given  up  my  rooms  at  the  Wyandotte. 
They  stored  an  old  trunkful  or  so  for  me,  and  I've  sent 
my  books  to  the  office." 

"  Look  here,  Josh,"  said  Grant,  when  they  were  under 
way;  "  does  Margaret  know  you're  coming?  " 

"Does  Margaret  know  I'm  coming?"  repeated 
Joshua  mockingly.  "  Does  Margaret  know  her  own 
mind  and  me?  .  .  .  Before  I  forget  it  here's  a  list 
I  wrote  out  against  a  lamp-post  while  I  was  waiting  for 
you  to  come  home.  It's  the  things  I  must  have,  so  far 
as  I  know.  The  frills  and  froth  you  know  about  —  I 
don't." 


258 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

PEACE  AT  ANY  PRICE 

Miss  Severence,  stepping  out  of  a  Waldorf  elevator 
at  the  main  floor,  shrank  back  wide-eyed.  "  You?  " 
she  gasped. 

Before  her,  serene  and  smiling  and  inflexible,  was 
Craig.  None  of  the  suits  he  had  bought  at  seven  that 
morning  was  quite  right  for  immediate  use ;  so  there  he 
was  in  his  old  lounge  suit,  baggy  at  knees  and  elbows 
and  liberally  bestrewn  with  lint.  Her  glance  fell  from 
his  mussy  collar  to  his  backwoodsman's  hands,  to  his 
feet,  so  cheaply  and  shabbily  shod ;  the  shoes  looked  the 
worse  for  the  elaborate  gloss  the  ferry  bootblack  had 
put  upon  them.  She  advanced  because  she  could  not 
retreat ;  but  never  had  she  been  so  repelled. 

She  had  come  to  New  York  to  get  away  from  him. 
When  she  entered  the  train  she  had  flung  him  out  of  the 
window.  "  I  mil  not  think  of  him  again,"  she  had  said 
to  herself.  But  —  Joshua  Craig's  was  not  the  sort  of 
personality  that  can  be  banished  by  an  edict  of  will.  She 
could  think  angrily  of  him,  or  disdainfully,  or  coldly,  or 

259 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 


pityingly  —  but  think  she  must.  And  think  she  did. 
She  told  herself  she  despised  him;  and  there  came  no 
echoing  protest  or  denial  from  anywhere  within  her. 
She  said  she  was  done  with  him  forever,  and  well  done ; 
her  own  answer  to  herself  there  was,  that  while  she  was 
probably  the  better  off  for  having  got  out  of  the  en 
gagement,  still  it  must  be  conceded  that  socially  the 
manner  of  her  getting  out  meant  scandal,  gossip,  laugh 
ter  at  her.  Her  cheeks  burned  as  her  soul  flamed. 

"  The  vulgar  boor !  "  she  muttered. 

Was  ever  woman  so  disgraced,  and  so  unjustly?  What 
had  the  gods  against  her,  that  they  had  thus  abased  her? 
How  Washington  would  jeer!  How  her  friends  would 
sneer!  What  hope  was  there  now  of  her  ever  getting  a 
husband?  She  would  be  an  object  of  pity  and  of  scorn. 
It  would  take  more  courage  than  any  of  the  men  of  her 
set  had,  to  marry  a  woman  rejected  by  such  a  creature 
—  and  in  such  circumstances! 

"  He  has  made  everybody  think  I  sought  him.  Now, 
he'll  tell  everybody  that  he  had  to  break  it  off  —  that  he 
broke  it  off!" 

She  ground  her  teeth;  she  clenched  her  hands;  she 
wept  and  moaned  in  the  loneliness  of  her  bed.  She  hated 
Craig;  she  hated  the  whole  world;  she  loathed  herself. 
And  all  the  time  she  had  to  keep  up  appearances  —  for 

260 


PEACE   AT  ANY  PRICE 

she  had  not  dared  tell  her  grandmother  —  had  to  listen 
while  the  old  lady  discussed  the  marriage  as  an  event  of 
the  not  remote  future. 

Why  had  she  not  told  her  grandmother?  Lack  of 
courage;  hope  that  something  would  happen  to  reveal 
the  truth  without  her  telling.  Hope  that  something 
would  happen  ?  No,  fear.  She  did  not  dare  look  at  the 
newspapers.  But,  whatever  her  reason,  it  was  not  any 
idea  that  possibly  the  engagement  might  be  resumed. 
No,  not  that.  "  Horrible  as  I  feel,"  thought  she,  "  I 
am  better  off  than  in  those  weeks  when  that  man  was 
whirling  me  from  one  nightmare  to  another.  The  peace 
of  desolation  is  better  than  that  torture  of  doubt  and  re 
pulsion.  Whatever  was  I  thinking  of  to  engage  my 
self  to  such  a  man?  to  think  seriously  of  passing  my 
life  with  him?  Poor  fool  that  I  was,  to  rail  against 
monotony,  to  sigh  for  sensations !  Well,  I  have  got 
them." 

Day  and  night,  almost  without  ceasing,  her  thoughts 
had  boiled  and  bubbled  on  and  on,  like  a  geyser  ever 
struggling  for  outlet  and  ever  falling  vainly  back  upon 
itself. 

Now  —  here  he  was,  greeting  her  at  the  elevator  car, 
smiling  and  confident,  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  She 
did  not  deign  even  to  stare  at  him,  but,  with  eyes  that 

261 


ADVENTURES    6F    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

seemed  to  be  simply  looking  without  seeing  any  especial 
object,  she  walked  straight  on.  "  I'm  in  luck,"  cried 
he,  beside  her.  "  I  had  only  been  walking  up  and  down 
there  by  the  elevators  about  twenty  minutes." 

She  made  no  reply.  At  the  door  she  said  to  the  car 
riage-caller  : 

"  A  cab,  please  —  no,  a  hansom." 

The  hansom  drove  up;  its  doors  opened.  Craig 
pushed  aside  the  carriage  man,  lifted  her  in  with  a  power 
ful  upward  swing  of  his  arm  against  her  elbow  and  side 
—  so  powerful  that  she  fell  into  the  seat,  knocking  her 
hat  awry  and  loosening  her  veil  from  the  brim  so  that 
it  hung  down  distressfully  across  her  eyes  and  nose. 
"  Drive  up  Fifth  Avenue  to  the  Park,"  said  Craig,  seat 
ing  himself  beside  her.  "  Now,  please  don't  cry,"  he  said 
to  her. 

"  Cry  ?  "  she  exclaimed.  Her  dry,  burning  eyes  blazed 
at  him. 

"  Your  eyes  were  so  bright,"  laughed  he,  "  that  I 
thought  they  were  full  of  tears." 

"If  you  are  a  gentleman  you  will  leave  this  hansom 
at  once." 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense,"  said  he.  "  You  know  per 
fectly  well  I'll  not  leave.  You  know  perfectly  well  I'll 
say  what  I've  got  to  say  to  you,  and  that  no  power  on 

262 


PEACE   AT   ANY   PRICE 

earth  can  prevent  me.  That's  why  you  didn't  give  way 
to  your  impulse  to  make  a  scene  when  I  followed  you 
into  this  trap." 

She  was  busy  with  her  hat  and  veil. 

"  Can  I  help  you?  "  said  he  with  a  great  show  of 
politeness  that  was  ridiculously  out  of  harmony  with  him 
in  every  way.  That,  and  the  absurdity  of  Josh  Craig, 
of  all  men,  helping  a  woman  in  the  delicate  task  of  ad 
justing  a  hat  and  veil,  struck  her  as  so  ludicrous  that  she 
laughed  hysterically;  her  effort  to  make  the  laughter 
appear  an  outburst  of  derisive,  withering  scorn  was  not 
exactly  a  triumph. 

"  Well,"  she  presently  said,  "  what  is  it  you  wish  to 
say?  I  have  very  little  time." 

He  eyed  her  sharply.  "  You  think  you  dislike  me, 
don't  you?  "  said  he. 

"  I  do,"  replied  she,  her  tone  as  cutting  as  her  words 
were  curt. 

"  How  little  that  amounts  to !  All  human  beings  — 
Grant,  you,  I,  all  of  us,  everybody  —  are  brimful  of 
vanity.  It  slops  over  a  little  one  way  and  we  call  it  like. 
It  slops  over  the  other  way  and  we  call  it  dislike  — 
hate  —  loathing  —  according  to  the  size  of  the  slop. 
Now,  I'm  not  here  to  deal  with  vanity,  but  with  good 
sense.  Has  it  occurred  to  you  in  the  last  few  days  that 

263 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

you  and  I  have  got  to  get  married,  whether  we  will  or 
no?" 

"  It  has  not,"  she  cried  with  frantic  fury  of  human 
being  cornered  by  an  ugly  truth. 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  has.  For  you  are  a  sensible  woman  — 
entirely  too  sensible  for  a  woman,  unless  she  marries  an 
unusual  man  like  me." 

"  Is  that  a  jest?  "  she  inquired  in  feeble  attempt  at 
sarcasm. 

"  Don't  you  know  I  have  no  sense  of  humor?  Would 
I  do  the  things  I  do  and  carry  them  through  if  I  had?  " 

In  spite  of  herself  she  admired  this  penetration  of 
self-analysis.  In  spite  of  herself  the  personality  beneath 
his  surface,  the  personality  that  had  a  certain  uncanny 
charm  for  her,  was  subtly  reasserting  its  inexplicable 
fascination. 

"  Yes,  we've  got  to  marry,"  proceeded  he.  "  I  have  to 
marry  you  because  I  can't  afford  to  let  you  say  you 
jilted  me.  That  would  make  me  the  laughing-stock  of 
my  State;  and  I  can't  afford  to  tell  the  truth  that  I 
jilted  you  because  the  people  would  despise  me  as  no  gen 
tleman.  And,  while  I  don't  in  the  least  mind  being 
despised  as  no  gentleman  by  fashionable  noddle-heads  or 
by  those  I  trample  on  to  rise,  I  do  mind  it  when  it  would 
ruin  me  with  the  people." 

264 


PEACE   AT  ANY   PRICE 

Her  ejes  gleamed.     So !     She  had  him  at  her  mercy ! 

"  Not  so  fast,  young  lady,"  continued  he  in  answer  to 
that  gleam.  "  It  is  equally  true  that  you've  got  to 
marry  me." 

"  But  I  shall  not !  "  she  cried.    "  Besides,  it  isn't  true." 

"  It  is  true,"  replied  he.  "  You  may  refuse  to  marry 
me,  just  as  a  man  may  refuse  to  run  when  the  dynamite 
blast  is  going  off'.  Yes,  you  can  refuse,  but  —  you'd 
not  be  your  grandmother's  granddaughter  if  you  did." 

"  Really !  "  She  was  so  surcharged  with  rage  that  she 
was  shaking  with  it,  was  tearing  up  her  handkerchief  in 
her  lap. 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  he  assured  her,  tranquil  as  a  lawyer 
arguing  a  commercial  case  before  a  logic-machine  of  a 
judge.  "  If  you  do  not  marry  me  all  your  friends  will 
say  I  jilted  you.  I  needn't  tell  you  what  it  would  mean 
in  your  set,  what  it  would  mean  as  to  your  matrimonial 
prospects,  for  you  to  have  the  reputation  of  having  been 
turned  down  by  me  —  need  I  ?  " 

She  was  silent ;  her  head  down,  her  lips  compressed, 
her  fingers  fiercely  interlaced  with  the  ruins  of  her  hand 
kerchief. 

"  It  is  necessary  that  you  marry,"  said  he  summing 
up.  "  It  is  wisest  and  easiest  to  marry  me,  since  I  am 
willing.  To  refuse  would  be  to  inflict  an  irreparable 

265 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 


injury  upon  yourself  in  order  to  justify  a  paltry  whim 
for  injuring  me." 

She  laughed  harshly.     "  You  are  frank,"  said  she. 

"  I  am  paying  you  the  compliment  of  frankness.  I 
am  appealing  to  your  intelligence,  where  a  less  intelli 
gent  man  and  one  that  knew  you  less  would  try  to  gain 
his  point  by  chicane,  flattery,  deception." 

"  Yes  —  it  is  a  compliment,"  she  answered.  "  It  was 
stupid  of  me  to  sneer  at  your  frankness." 

A  long  silence.  He  lighted  a  cigarette,  smoked  it  with 
deliberation  foreign  to  his  usual  self  but  characteristic 
of  him  when  he  was  closely  and  intensely  engaged;  for 
he  was  like  a  thoroughbred  that  is  all  fret  and  champ 
and  pawing  and  caper  until  the  race  is  on,  when  he  at 
once  settles  down  into  a  calm,  steady  stride,  with  all  the 
surplus  nervous  energy  applied  directly  and  intelligently 
to  the  work  in  hand.  She  was  not  looking  at  him,  but 
she  was  feeling  him  in  every  atom  of  her  body,  was  feel 
ing  the  power,  the  inevitableness  of  the  man.  He 
angered  her,  made  her  feel  weak,  a  helpless  thing,  at  his 
mercy.  True,  it  was  his  logic  that  was  convincing  her, 
not  his  magnetic  and  masterful  will;  but  somehow  the 
two  seemed  one.  Never  had  he  been  so  repellent,  never 
had  she  felt  so  hostile  to  him. 

"  I  will  marry  you,"  she  finally  said.  "  But  I  must 
266 


PEACE   AT  ANY   PRICE 

tell  you  that  I  do  not  love  you  —  or  even  like  you.  The 
reverse." 

His  face,  of  the  large,  hewn  features,  with  their  some 
how  pathetic  traces  of  the  struggles  and  sorrows  of  his 
rise,  grew  strange,  almost  terrible.  "  Do  you  mean 
that?  "  he  said,  turning  slowly  toward  her. 

She  quickly  shifted  her  eyes,  in  which  her  dislike  was 
showing,  shifted  them  before  he  couM  possibly  have  seen. 
And  she  tried  in  vain  to  force  past  her  lips  the  words 
which  she  believed  to  be  the  truth,  the  words  his  pathetic, 
powerful  face  told  her  would  end  everything.  Yes,  she 
knew  he  would  not  marry  her  if  she  told  him  the  truth 
about  her  feelings. 

"  Do  you  mean  that  ?  "  he  repeated,  stern  and  sharp, 
yet  sad,  wistfully  sad,  too. 

"  I  don't  know  what  I  mean,"  she  cried,  desperately 
afraid  of  him,  afraid  of  the  visions  the  idea  of  not  marry 
ing  him  conjured.  "  I  don't  know  what  I  mean,"  she 
repeated.  "  You  fill  me  with  a  kind  of  —  of  —  horror. 
You  draw  me  into  your  grasp  in  spite  of  myself  —  like 
a  whirlpool  —  and  rouse  all  my  instinct  to  try  and  save 
myself.  Sometimes  that  desire  becomes  a  positive 
frenzy." 

He  laughed  complacently.    "  That  is  love,"  said  he. 

She  did  not  resent  his  tone  or  dispute  his  verdict 
267 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

externally.     "  If  it  is  love,"  replied  she  evenly,  "  then 
never  did  love  wear  so  strange,  so  dreadful  a  disguise." 

He  laid  his  talon-hand,  hardened  and  misshapen  by 
manual  labor,  but  if  ugly,  then  ugly  with  the  majesty  of 
the  twisted,  tempest-defying  oak,  over  hers.  "  Believe 
me,  Margaret,  you  love  me.  You  have  loved  me  all 
along.  .  .  .  And  I  you." 

"  Don't  deceive  yourself,"  she  felt  bound  to  say,  "  I 
certainly  do  not  love  you  if  love  has  any  of  its  generally  • 
accepted  meanings." 

"I  am  not  the  general  sort  of  person,"  said  he.  "  It 
is  not  strange  that  I  should  arouse  extraordinary  feel 
ings,  is  it?  Driver" — he  had  the  trap  in  the  roof  up 
and  was  thrusting  through  it  a  slip  of  paper — "take 
us  to  that  street  and  number." 

She  gasped  with  a  tightening  at  the  heart.  "  I  must 
return  to  the  hotel  at  once,"  she  said  hurriedly. 

He  fixed  his  gaze  upon  her.  "  We  are  going  to  the 
preacher's,"  said  he. 

"  The  preacher's  ?  "  she  murmured,  shrinking  in  terror. 

"  Grant  is  waiting  for  us  there  " —  he  glanced  at  his 
watch  — "  or,  rather,  will  be  there  in  about  ten  minutes. 
We  are  a  little  earlier  than  I  anticipated." 

She  flushed  crimson,  paled,  felt  she  would  certainly 
suffocate  with  rage. 

268 


PEACE   AT  ANY   PRICE 

"  Before  you  speak,"  continued  he,  "  listen  to  me. 
You  don't  want  to  go  back  into  that  torment  of  doubt 
in  which  we've  both  been  hopping  about  for  a  month, 
like  a  pair  of  damned  souls  being  used  as  tennis  balls 
by  fiends.  Let's  settle  the  business  now,  and  for  good 
and  all.  Let  us  have  peace  —  for  God's  sake,  peace ! 
I  know  you've  been  miserable.  I  know  I've  been  on  the 
rack.  And  it's  got  to  stop.  Am  I  not  right?  " 

She  leaned  back  in  her  corner  of  the  cab,  shut  her 
eyes,  said  no  more  —  and  all  but  ceased  to  think. 
What  was  there  to  say?  What  was  there  to  think? 
When  Fate  ceases  to  tolerate  our  pleasant  delusion  of 
free  will,  when  it  openly  and  firmly  seizes  us  and  hurries 
us  along,  we  do  not  discuss  or  comment.  We  close  our 
minds,  relax  and  submit. 

At  the  parsonage  he  sprang  out,  stood  by  to  help  her 
descend,  half -dragged  her  from  the  cab  when  she  hesi 
tated.  He  shouted  at  the  driver:  "  How  much  do  I  owe 
you,  friend?  " 

"  Six  dollars,  sir." 

"  Not  on  your  life !  "  shouted  Craig  furiously.  He 
turned  to  Margaret,  standing  beside  him  in  a  daze. 
"  What  do  you  think  of  that?  This  fellow  imagines  be 
cause  I've  got  a  well-dressed  woman  along  I'll  submit. 
But  I'm  not  that  big  a  snob."  He  was  looking  up  at 

269 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

the  cabman  again.  "  You  miserable  thief !  "  he  exclaim 
ed.  "  I'll  give  you  three  dollars,  and  that's  too  much  by 
a  dollar." 

"  Don't  you  call  me  names !  "  yelled  the  cabman,  shak 
ing  his  fist  with  the  whip  in  it. 

"  The  man's  drunk,"  cried  Josh  to  the  little  crowd  of 
people  that  had  assembled.  Margaret,  overwhelmed  with 
mortification,  tugged  at  his  sleeve.  "  The  man's  not 
overcharging  much  —  if  any,"  she  said  in  an  under 
tone. 

"  You're  saying  that  because  you  hate  scenes,"  re 
plied  Josh  loudly.  "  You  go  on  into  the  house.  I'll 
take  care  of  this  hound." 

Margaret  retreated  within  the  parsonage  gate;  her 
very  soul  was  sick.  She  longed  for  the  ground  to  open 
and  swallow  her  forever.  It  would  be  bad  enough  for 
a  man  to  make  such  an  exhibition  at  any  time;  but  to 
make  it  when  he  was  about  to  be  married !  —  and  in  such 
circumstances !  —  to  squabble  and  scream  over  a  paltry 
dollar  or  so ! 

"  Here's  a  policeman  !  "  cried  Craig.  "  Now,  you 
thief,  we'll  see!" 

The  cabman  sprang  down  from  his  seat.  "  You  damn 
jay !  "  he  bellowed.  "  You  don't  know  New  York  cab- 
fares.  Was  you  ever  to  town  before  —  eh?  " 

270 


Craig  beckoned  the  policeman  with  vast,  excited  ges 
tures.  Margaret  fled  up  the  walk  toward  the  parsonage 
door,  but  not  before  she  heard  Craig  say  to  the  police 
man: 

"  I  am  Joshua  Craig,  assistant  to  the  Attorney-Gen 
eral  of  the  United  States.  This  thief  here  — "  And 
so  on  until  he  had  told  the  whole  story.  Margaret  kept 
her  back  to  the  street,  but  she  could  hear  the  two  fiercely- 
angry  voices,  the  laughter  of  the  crowd.  At  last  Craig 
j  oined  her  —  panting,  flushed,  triumphant.  "  I  knew 
he  was  a  thief.  Four  dollars  was  the  right  amount,  but 
I  gave  him  five,  as  the  policeman  said  -it  was  best  to 
quiet  him." 

He  gave  a  jerk  at  the  knob  of  parsonage  street  bell 
as  if  he  were  determined  to  pull  it  out ;  the  bell  within 
rang  loudly,  angrily,  like  the  infuriate  voice  of  a  sleeper 
who  has  been  roused  with  a  thundering  kick.  "  This 
affair  of  ours,"  continued  Craig,  "  is  going  to  cost 
money.  And  I've  been  spending  it  to-day  like  a  drunken 
sailor.  The  more  careful  I  am,  the  less  careful  I  will 
have  to  be,  my  dear." 

The  door  opened  —  a  maid,  scowling,  appeared. 

"  Come  on,"  cried  Joshua  to  Margaret.  And  he  led 
the  way,  brushing  the  maid  aside  as  she  stood  her  ground, 
attitude  belligerent,  but  expression  perplexed.  To  her, 

271 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

as  he  passed,  Craig  said :  "  Tell  Doctor  Scones  that  Mr. 
Craig  and  the  lady  are  here.  Has  Mr.  Arkwright 
come?  " 

By  this  time  he  was  in  the  parlor ;  a  glance  around  and 
he  burst  out: 

"  Late,  by  jiminy !  And  I  told  him  to  be  here  ahead 
of  time." 

He  darted  to  the  window.  "  Ah !  There  he  comes !  " 
He  wheeled  upon  Margaret  just  as  she  dropped,  half- 
fainting,  into  a  chair.  "  What's  the  matter,  dear?  " 
He  leaped  to  her  side.  "  No  false  emotions,  please.  If 
you  could  weather  the  real  ones  what's  the  use  of  getting 
up  ladylike  excitement  over — ' 

"  For  God's  sake ! "  exclaimed  Margaret,  "  sit  down 
and  shut  up !  If  you  don't  I  shall  scream  —  scream  — 
scream!" 

The  maid  gaped  first  at  one,  then  at  the  other,  left 
them  reluctantly  to  admit  Arkwright.  As  she  opened  the 
door  she  had  to  draw  back  a  little.  There  was  Craig  im 
mediately  behind  her.  He  swept  her  aside,  flung  the  door 
wide.  "  Come  on !  Hurry ! "  he  cried  to  Grant. 
"  We're  waiting."  And  he  seized  him  by  the  arm  and 
thrust  him  into  the  parlor.  At  the  same  instant  the 
preacher  entered  by  another  door.  Craig's  excitement, 
far  from  diminishing,  grew  wilder  and  wilder.  The 

272 


PEACE   AT   ANY   PRICE 

preacher  thought  him  insane  or  drunk.  Grant  and  Mar 
garet  tried  in  vain  to  calm  him.  Nothing  would  do  but 
the  ceremony  instantly  —  and  he  had  his  way.  Never 
was  there  a  more  undignified  wedding.  When  the  re 
sponses  were  all  said  and  the  marriage  was  a  fact  ac 
complished,  so  far  as  preacher  could  accomplish  it,  Craig 
seemed  suddenly  to  subside. 

"  I  should  like  to  go  into  the  next  room  for  a  mo 
ment,"  said  the  pallid  and  trembling  Margaret. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Doctor  Scones  sympathetically, 
and,  with  a  fierce  scowl  at  the  groom,  he  accompanied  the 
bride  from  the  room. 

"  What  a  mess  you  have  made ! "  exclaimed  Ark- 
wright  indignantly.  "  You've  been  acting  like  a  lu 
natic." 

"  It  wasn't  acting  —  altogether,"  laughed  Josh,  giv 
ing  Grant  one  of  those  tremendous  slaps  on  the  back. 
"  You  see,  it  was  wise  to  give  her  something  else  to  think 
about  so  she  couldn't  possibly  hesitate  or  bolt.  So  I 
just  gave  way  to  my  natural  feelings.  It's  a  way  I  have 
in  difficult  situations." 

Grant's  expression  as  he  looked  at  him  was  a  mingling 
of  admiration,  fear  and  scorn.  "  You  are  full  of  those 
petty  tricks,"  said  he. 

"  Why  petty  ?  Is  it  petty  to  meet  the  requirements 
273 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

of  a  situation  ?  The  situation  was  petty  —  the  trick  had 
to  be.  Besides,  I  tell  you,  it  wasn't  a  trick.  If  I  hadn't 
given  my  nerves  an  outlet  I  might  have  balked  or  bolted 
myself.  I  didn't  want  to  have  to  think  any  more  than 
she." 

"You  mustn't  say  those  things  to  me,"  objected  his 
friend. 

"  Why  not?  What  do  I  care  what  you  or  any  one  else 
thinks  of  me?  And  what  could  you  do  except  simply 
think?  Old  pal,  you  ought  to  learn  not  to  judge  me  by 
the  rules  of  your  little  puddle.  It's  a  ridiculous  habit." 
He  leaped  at  the  door  where  Margaret  had  disappeared 
and  rapped  on  it  fiercely. 

"  Yes  —  yes  —  I'm  coming,"  responded  a  nervous, 
pleading,  agitated  voice ;  and  the  door  opened  and  Mar 
garet  appeared. 

"  What  shall  we  do  now?  "  she  said  to  Craig.  Grant 
saw,  with  an  amazement  he  could  scarcely  conceal,  that 
for  the  time,  at  least,  she  was  quite  subdued,  would 
meekly  submit  to  anything. 

"  Go  to  your  grandmother,"  said  Craig  promptly. 
"  You  attend  to  the  preacher,  Grant.  Twenty-five's 
enough  to  give  him." 

Margaret's  cheeks  flamed,  her  head  bowed.  Grant 
flushed  in  sympathy  with  her  agony  before  this  vul- 

274 


PEACE   AT  ANY  PRICE 

garity.  And  a  moment  later  he  saw  Margaret  standing, 
drooping  and  resigned,  at  the  curb,  while  Craig  excitedly 
hailed  a  cab.  "  Poor  girl !  "  he  muttered,  "  living  with 
that  nightmare-in-breeches  will  surely  kill  her  —  so  deli 
cate,  so  refined,  so  sensitive ! " 


275 


CHAPTER  XIX 

MADAM  BOWKER'S  BLESSING 

"  If  you  like  I'll  go  up  and  tell  your  grandmother," 
said  Craig,  breaking  the  silence  as  they  neared  the  hotel. 
But  Margaret's  brain  had  resumed  its  normal  function, 
was  making  up  for  the  time  it  had  lost.  With  the  shak 
ing  off  of  the  daze  had  come  amazement  at  finding  her 
self  married.  In  the  same  circumstances  a  man  would 
have  been  incapacitated  for  action ;  Craig,  who  had  been 
so  reckless,  so  headlong  a  few  minutes  before,  was  now 
timid,  irresolute,  prey  to  alarms.  But  women,  beneath 
the  pose  which  man's  resolute  apotheosis  of  woman  as 
the  embodiment  of  unreasoning  imagination  has  en 
forced  upon  them,  are  rarely  so  imaginative  that  the 
practical  is  wholly  obscured.  Margaret  was  accepting 
the  situation,  was  planning  soberly  to  turn  it  to  the  besfc 
advantage.  Obviously,  much  hung  upon  this  unconven 
tional,  this  vulgarly-sensational  marriage  being  diplo 
matically  announced  to  the  person  from  whom  she  ex 
pected  to  get  an  income  of  her  own.  "  No,"  said  she 
to  Joshua,  in  response  to  his  nervously-made  offer. 

276 


MADAM  BOWKEE'S   BLESSING 

"  You  must  wait  down  in  the  office  while  I  tell  her.    At 
the  proper  time  I'll  send  for  you." 

She  spoke  friendlily  enough,  with  an  inviting  sugges 
tion  of  their  common  interests.  But  Craig  found  it  un 
comfortable  even  to  look  at  her.  Now  that  the  crisis 
was  over  his  weaknesses  were  returning;  he  could  not 
believe  he  had  dared  bear  off  this  "  delicate,  refined  crea 
ture,"  this  woman  whom  "  any  one  can  see  at  a  glance 
is  a  patrician  of  patricians."  That  kind  of  nervousness 
as  quickly  spreads  through  every  part,  moral,  mental 
and  physical,  of  a  man  not  sure  of  himself  as  a  fire 
through  a  haystack.  He  could  not  conceal  his  awe  of 
her.  She  saw  that  something  was  wrong  with  him ;  being 
herself  in  no  "  patrician  "  mood,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
in  a  mood  that  was  most  humanly  plebeian,  she  quite 
missed  the  cause  of  his  clumsy  embarrassment  and  con 
straint  ;  she  suspected  a  sudden  physical  ailment.  "  It'll 
be  some  time,  I  expect,"  said  she.  "  Don't  bother  to 
hang  around.  I'll  send  a  note  to  the  desk,  and  you  can 
inquire  —  say,  in  half  an  hour  or  so." 

"  Half  an  hour !  "  he  cried  in  dismay.  Whatever 
should  he  do  with  himself,  alone  with  these  returned 
terrors,  and  with  no  Margaret  there  to  make  him 
ashamed  not  to  give  braver  battle  to  them. 

"  An  hour,  then." 

277 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

She  nodded,  shook  hands  with  a  blush  and  a  smile,  not 
without  its  gleam  of  appreciation  of  the  queerness  of  the 
situation.  He  lifted  his  hat,  made  a  nervous,  formal 
bow  and  turned  away,  though  no  car  was  there.  As 
the  elevator  was  starting  up  with  her  he  came  hurrying 
back. 

"  One  moment,"  he  said.     "  I  quite  forgot." 

She  joined  him  and  they  stood  aside,  in  the  shelter  of 
a  great  wrap-rack.  "  You  can  tell  your  grandmother  — 
it  may  help  to  smooth  things  over  —  that  my  appoint 
ment  as  Attorney-General  will  be  announced  day  after 
to-morrow." 

"  Oh !  "  exclaimed  she,  her  eyes  lighting  up. 

He  went  on  to  explain.  "  As  you  know,  the  Presi 
dent  didn't  want  to  give  it  to  me.  But  I  succeeded  in 
drawing  him  into  a  position  where  he  either  had  to  give 
it  to  me  or  seem  to  be  retiring  me  because  I  had  so 
vigorously  attacked  the  big  rascals  he's  suspected  of  be 
ing  privately  more  than  half  in  sympathy  with." 

"  She'll  be  delighted !  "  exclaimed  Margaret. 

"  And  you  ?  "  he  asked  with  awkward  wistf ulness. 

"I?"  said  she  blushing  and  dropping  her  glance. 
"  Is  it  necessary  for  you  to  ask  ?  " 

She  went  back  to  the  elevator  still  more  out  of  humor 
with  herself.  She  had  begun  their  married  life  with 

278 


MADAM  BOWKEE'S   BLESSING 

what  was  very  nearly  a  —  well,  it  certainly  was  an 
evasion ;  for  she  cared  nothing  about  his  political  career, 
so  soon  to  end.  However,  she  was  glad  of  the  appoint 
ment,  because  the  news  of  it  would  be  useful  in  calming 
and  reconciling  her  grandmother.  Just  as  her  spirits 
began  to  rise  it  flashed  into  her  mind :  "  Why,  that's 
how  it  happens  I'm  married!  If  he  hadn't  been  suc 
cessful  in  getting  the  office  he  wouldn't  have  come. 
He  maneuvered  the  President  into  a  position 

where  he  had  to  ffive  him  what  he  wanted.    Then  he  came 

\ 

here  and  maneuvered  me  into  a  position  where  7  had  to 

give  him  what  he  wanted.  Always  his  *  game ! '  No 
sincerity  or  directness  anywhere  in  him,  and  very  little 
real  courage."  Here  she  stopped  short  in  the  full  swing 
of  pharisaism,  smiled  at  herself  in  dismal  self -mockery. 
"  And  what  am  7  doing  ?  Playing  my  '  game.'  I'm  on 
my  way  now  to  maneuver  my  grandmother.  We  are 
well  suited  —  he  and  I.  In  another  walk  of  life  we 
might  have  been  a  pair  of  swindlers,  playing  into  each 
other's  hands.  .  .  .  And  yet  I  don't  believe  we're 
worse  than  most  people.  Why,  most  people  do  these 
things  without  a  thought  of  their  being  —  unprincipled. 
And,  after  all,  I'm  not  harming  anybody,  am  I?  That 
is,  anybody  but  myself." 

She  had  her  campaign  carefully  laid  out;  she  had 
279 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

mapped  it  in  the  cab  between  the  parsonage  and  the 
hotel.  "  Grandmother,"  she  began  as  the  old  lady 
looked  up  with  a  frown  because  of  her  long,  unex 
pected  absence,  "  I  must  tell  you  that  just  before  we 
left  Washington  Craig  broke  the  engagement." 

Madam  Bowker  half-started  from  her  chair. 
"  Broke  the  engagement !  "  she  cried  in  dismay. 

"  Abruptly  and,  apparently,  finally.  I  —  I  didn't 
dare  tell  you  before." 

She  so  longed  for  sympathy  that  she  half -hoped  the 
old  lady  would  show  signs  of  being  touched  by  the 
plight  which  that  situation  meant.  But  no  sign  came. 
Instead,  Madam  Bowker  pierced  her  with  wrathful  eyes 
and  said  in  a  furious  voice :  "  This  is  frightful !  And 
you  have  done  nothing?"  She  struck  the  floor  vio 
lently  with  her  staff.  "  He  must  be  brought  to  a  sense 
of  honor — of  decency!  He  must!  Do  you  hear? 
It  was  your  fault,  I  am  sure.  If  he  does  not  marry  you 
you  are  ruined !  " 

"  He  came  over  this  morning,"  pursued  Margaret. 
'*  He  wanted  to  marry  me  at  once." 

'  You  should  have  given  him  no  chance  to  change 
his  mind  again,"  cried  Madam  Bowker.  "  What  a 
trifler  you  are !  No  seriousness !  Your  intelligence  all 
in  the  abstract;  only  folly  and  fritter  for  your  own 

280 


MADAM   BOWKER'S   BLESSING 

affairs.  You  should  have  given  him  no  chance  to 
change ! " 

Margaret  closed  in  and  struck  home.  "  I  didn't," 
said  she  tersely.  "  I  married  him." 

The  old  lady  stared.  Then,  as  she  realized  how 
cleverly  Margaret  had  trapped  her,  she  smiled  a  grim 
smile  of  appreciation  and  forgiveness.  "  Come  and 
kiss  me,"  said  she.  "  You  will  do  something,  now  that 
you  have  a  chance.  No  woman  has  a  chance  —  no  la dy 
—  until  she  is  a  Mrs.  It's  the  struggle  to  round  that 
point  that  wrecks  so  many  of  them." 

Margaret  kissed  her.  "  And,"  she  went  on,  "  he  has 
been  made  Attorney-General." 

Never,  never  had  Margaret  seen  such  unconcealed 
satisfaction  in  her  grandmother's  face.  The  stern, 
piercing  eyes  softened  and  beamed  affection  upon  the 
girl;  all  the  affection  she  had  deemed  it  wise  to  show 
theretofore  always  was  tempered  with  sternness. 
"  What  a  pity  he  hasn't  money,"  said  she.  "  Still,  it 
can  be  managed,  after  a  fashion." 

"  We  must  have  money,"  pursued  the  girl.  "  Life 
with  him,  without  it,  would  be  intolerable.  Poor  peo 
ple  are  thrown  so  closely  together.  He  is  too  much  for 
my  nerves  —  often." 

"  He's  your  property  now,"  Madam  Bowker  reminded 
281 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 


her.  "  You  must  not  disparage  your  own  property. 
Always  remember  that  your  husband  is  your  property. 
Then  your  silly  nerves  will  soon  quiet  down." 

"  We  must  have  money,"  repeated  Margaret.  "  A 
great  deal  of  money." 

"  You  know  I  can't  give  you  a  great  deal,"  said  the 
old  lady  apologetically.  "  I'll  do  my  best.  .  .  . 
Would  you  like  to  live  with  me  ?  " 

There  was  something  so  fantastic  in  the  idea  of 
Joshua  Craig  and  Madam  Bowker  living  under  the  same 
roof,  and  herself  trying  to  live  with  them,  that  Mar 
garet  burst  out  laughing.  The  old  lady  frowned ;  then, 
appreciating  the  joke,  she  joined  in.  "  You'll  have  to 
make  up  your  mind  to  live  very  quietly.  Politics 
doesn't  pay  well  —  not  Craig's  branch  of  it,  except  in 
honor.  He  will  be  very  famous." 

"  Where  ?  "  retorted  Margaret  disdainfully.  "  Why, 
with  a  lot  of  people  who  aren't  worth  considering.  No, 
I  am  going  to  take  Joshua  out  of  politics." 

The  old  lady  looked  interest  and  inquiry. 

"  He  has  had  several  flattering  offers  to  be  counsel  to 
big  corporations.  The  things  he  has  done  against  them 
have  made  them  respect  and  want  him.  I'm  going  to 
get  him  to  leave  politics  and  practice  law  in  New  York. 
Lawyers  there  —  the  shrewd  ones,  like  him  —  make  f or- 

282 


MADAM   BOWKER'S   BLESSING 

tunes.  He  can  still  speak  occasionally  and  get  all  the 
applause  he  wants.  Joshua  loves  applause." 

The  old  lady  was  watching  her  narrowly. 

"  Don't  you  think  I'm  right,  Grandma  ?  I'm  telling 
you  because  I  want  your  opinion." 

"Will  he  do  it?" 

Margaret  laughed  easily.  "  He's  afraid  of  me.  If 
I  manage  him  well  he'll  do  whatever  I  wish.  I  can 
make  him  realize  he  has  no  right  to  deprive  myself  and 
him  of  the  advantages  of  my  station." 

"  Um  —  um,"  said  the  old  lady,  half  to  herself. 
"  Yes  —  yes  —  perhaps.  Um  —  um  — " 

"  He  will  be  much  more  content  once  he's  settled  in 
the  new  line.  Politics  as  an  end  is  silly  —  what  becomes 
of  the  men  who  stick  to  it?  But  politics  as  a  means  is 
sensible,  and  Joshua  has  got  out  of  it  about  all  he  can 
get  —  about  all  he  needs." 

"  He  hopes  to  be  President." 

"  So  do  thousands  of  other  men.  And  even  if  he 
should  get  it  how  would  we  live  —  how  would  7  live  — 
while  we  were  waiting  —  and  after  it  was  over?  I  de 
test  politics  —  all  those  vulgar  people."  Margaret 
made  a  disdainful  mouth.  "  It  isn't  for  our  sort  of 
people  —  except,  perhaps,  the  diplomatic  posts,  and 
they,  of  course,  go  by  *  pull '  or  purchase.  I  like  the 

283 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

life  I've  led  —  the  life  you've  led.  You've  made  me 
luxurious  and  lazy,  Grandma.  .  .  .  Rather  than 
President  I'd  prefer  him  to  be  ambassador  to  England, 
after  a  while,  when  we  could  afford  it.  We  could  have 
a  great  social  career." 

"  You  think  you  can  manage  him?  "  repeated  Madam 
Bowker. 

She  had  been  simply  listening,  her  thoughts  not  show 
ing  at  the  surface.  Her  tone  was  neither  discouraging 
nor  encouraging,  merely  interrogative.  But  Margaret 
scented  a  doubt.  "  Don't  you  think  so  ?  "  she  said  a 
little  less  confidently. 

"  I  don't  know.  ...  I  don't  know.  ...  It 
will  do  no  harm  to  try." 

Margaret's  expression  was  suddenly  like  a  real  face 
from  which  a  mask  has  dropped.  "  I  must  do  it, 
Grandma.  If  I  don't  I  shall  —  I  shall  hate  him!  I 
will  not  be  his  servant!  When  I  think  of  the  humilia 
tions  he  has  put  upon  me  I  —  I  almost  hate  him  now !  " 

Madam  Bowker  was  alarmed,  but  was  too  wise  to 
show  it.  She  laughed.  "  How  seriously  you  take 
yourself,  child,"  said  she.  "  All  that  is  very  young  and 
very  theatrical.  What  do  birth  and  breeding  mean  if 
not  that  one  has  the  high  courage  to  bear  what  is,  after 
all,  the  lot  of  most  women,  and  the  high  intelligence  to 

284 


MADAM  BOWKER'S   BLESSING 

use  one's  circumstances,  whatever  they  may  be,  to  ac 
complish  one's  ambitions?  A  lady  cannot  afford  to 
despise  her  husband.  A  lady  is,  first  of  all,  serene. 
You  talk  like  a  Craig  rather  than  like  a  Severence.  If 
he  can  taint  you  this  soon  how  long  will  it  be  before  you 
are  at  his  level?  How  can  you  hope  to  bring  him  up  to 
yours  ?  " 

Margaret's  head  was  hanging. 

"  Never  again  let  me  hear  you  speak  disrespectfully 
of  your  husband,  my  child,"  the  old  lady  went  on  im 
pressively.  "  And  if  you  are  wise  you  will  no  more 
permit  yourself  to  harbor  a  disrespectful  thought  of 
him  than  you  would  permit  yourself  to  wear  unclean 
underclothes." 

Margaret  dropped  down  at  her  grandmother's  knee, 
buried  her  face  in  her  lap.  "  I  don't  believe  I  can  ever 
love  him,"  she  murmured. 

"  So  long  as  you  believe  that,  you  never  can,"  said 
Madam  Bowker;  "  and  your  married  life  will  be  a  fail 
ure  —  as  great  a  failure  as  mine  was  —  as  your  mother's 
was.  If  I  had  only  known  what  I  know  now  —  what 
I  am  telling  you  — "  Madam  Bowker  paused,  and  there 
was  a  long  silence  in  the  room.  "  Your  married  life, 
my  dear,"  she  went  on,  "  will  be  what  you  choose  to 
make  of  it.  You  have  a  husband.  Never  let  yourself 

285 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

indulge  in  silly  repinings  or  ruinous  longings.  Make 
the  best  of  what  you  have.  Study  your  husband,  not 
ungenerously  and  superciliously,  but  with  eyes  deter 
mined  to  see  the  virtues  that  can  be  developed,  the  faults 
that  can  be  cured,  and  with  eyes  that  will  not  linger 
on  the  faults  that  can't  be  cured.  Make  him  your  con 
stant  thought  and  care.  Never  forget  that  you  belong 
to  the  superior  sex." 

"  I  don't  feel  that  I  do,"  said  Margaret.  "  I  can't 
help  feeling  women  are  inferior  and  wishing  I'd  been  a 
man." 

"  That  is  because  you  do  not  think,"  replied  Madam 
Bowker  indulgently.  "  Children  are  the  center  of  life 
—  its  purpose,  jts  fulfillment.  All  normal  men  and 
women  want  children  above  everything  else.  Our  only 
title  to  be  here  is  as  ancestors  —  to  replace  ourselves 
with  wiser  and  better  than  we.  That  makes  woman  the 
superior  of  man ;  she  alone  has  the  power  to  give  birth. 
Man  instinctively  knows  this,  and  it  is  his  fear  of  sub 
jection  to  woman  that  makes  him  sneer  at  and  fight 
against  every  effort  to  develop  her  intelligence  and  her 
independence.  If  you  are  a  true  woman,  worthy  of 
your  race  and  of  your  breeding,  you  will  never  forget 
your  superiority  —  or  the  duties  it  imposes  on  you  — 
what  you  owe  to  your  husband  and  to  your  children. 

286 


MADAM  BOWKER'S   BLESSING 

You  are  a  married  woman  now.  Therefore  you  are 
free.  Show  that  you  deserve  freedom  and  know  how 
to  use  it." 

Margaret  listened  to  the  old  woman  with  a  new  re 
spect  for  her  —  and  for  herself.  "  I'll  try,  Grand 
mother,"  she  said  soberly.  "  But  —  it  won't  be 
easy."  A  reflective  silence,  and  she  repeated,  "  No,  not 
easy." 

"  Easier  than  to  resist  and  repine  and  rage  and  hunt 
another  man  who,  on  close  acquaintance,  would  prove 
even  less  satisfactory,"  replied  her  grandmother. 
"  Easy  —  if  you  honestly  try."  She  looked  down  at 
the  girl  with  the  sympathy  that  goes  out  to  inexperience 
from  those  who  have  lived  long  and  thoughtfully  and 
have  seen  many  a  vast  and  fearful  bogy  loom  and, 
on  nearer  view,  fade  into  a  mist  of  fancy.  "  Above 
all,  child,  don't  waste  your  strength  on  imaginary 
griefs  and  woes  —  you'll  have  none  left  for  the  real 
trials." 

Margaret  had  listened  attentively;  she  would  remem 
ber  what  the  old  lady  had  said  —  indeed,  it  would  have 
been  hard  to  forget  words  so  direct  and  so  impressively 
uttered.  But  at  the  moment  they  made  small  impres 
sion  upon  her.  She  thought  her  grandmother  kindly 
but  cold.  In  fact,  the  old  lady  was  giving  her  as  deep 

287 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

commiseration  as  her  broader  experience  permitted  in 
the  circumstances,  some  such  commiseration  as  one  gives 
a  child  who  sees  measureless  calamity  in  a  rainy  sky  on 
a  long-anticipated  picnic  morning. 


238 


CHAPTER  XX 

ME.    CRAIG  KISSES   THE   IDOI/S  FOOT 

Grant  Arkwright  reached  the  Waldorf  a  little  less 
than  an  hour  after  he  had  seen  the  bride  and  groom 
drive  away  from  Doctor  Scones'.  He  found  Craig  pac 
ing  up  and  down  before  the  desk,  his  agitation  so 
obvious  that  the  people  about  were  all  intensely  and 
frankly  interested.  "  You  look  as  if  you  were  going  to 
draw  a  couple  of  guns  in  a  minute  or  so  and  shoot  up 
the  house,"  said  he,  putting  himself  squarely  before 
Josh  and  halting  him. 

"  For  God's  sake,  Grant,"  cried  Joshua,  "  see  how 
I'm  sweating !  Go  upstairs  —  up  to  their  suite,  and 
find  out  what's  the  matter." 

"  Go  yourself,"  retorted  Grant. 

Craig  shook  his  head.  He  couldn't  confess  to  Ark 
wright  what  was  really  agitating  him,  why  he  did  not 
disregard  Margaret's  injunction. 

"What're  you  afraid  of?" 

Josh  scowled  as  Grant  thus  unconsciously  scuffed  the 
sore  spot.  "  I'm  not  afraid ! "  he  cried  aggressively. 

289 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  It's   better   that   you    should    go.     Don't   haggle  — 
go!" 

As  Grant  could  think  of  no  reason  why  he  shouldn't, 
and  as  he  had  the  keenest  curiosity  to  see  how  the 
"  old  tartar  "  was  taking  it,  he  went.  Margaret's  voice 
came  in  response  to  his  knock.  "  Oh,  it's  you,"  said  she 
in  a  tone  of  relief. 

Her  face  was  swollen  and  her  eyes  red.  She  looked 
anything  but  lovely.  Grant,  however,  was  instantly  so 
moved  that  he  did  not  notice  her  homeliness.  Also,  he 
was  one  of  those  unobservant  people  who,  having  once 
formed  an  impression  of  a  person,  do  not  revise  it  ex 
cept  under  compulsion ;  his  last  observation  of  Margaret 
had  resulted  in  an  impression  of  good  looks,  exceptional 
charm.  He  bent  upon  her  a  look  in  which  understand 
ing  sympathy  was  heavily  alloyed  with  the  longing  of 
the  covetous  man  in  presence  of  his  neighbor's  desirable 
possessions.  But  he  discreetly  decided  that  he  would 
not  put  into  words  —  at  least,  not  just  yet  —  his  sym 
pathy  with  her  for  her  dreadful,  her  tragic  mistake. 
No,  it  would  be  more  tactful  as  well  as  more  discreet  to 
pretend  belief  that  her  tears  had  been  caused  by  her 
grandmother.  He  glanced  round. 

"  Where's  Madam  Bowker? "  inquired  he.  "  Did 
she  blow  up  and  bolt?  " 

290 


THE  IDOL'S  FOOT 


"  Oh,  no,"  answered  Margaret,  seating  herself  with 
a  dreary  sigh.  "  She's  gone  to  her  sitting-room  to 
write  with  her  own  hand  the  announcement  that's  to  be 
given  out.  She  says  the  exact  wording  is  very  im 
portant." 

"  So  it  is,"  said  Grant.  "  All  that's  said  will  take 
its  color  from  the  first  news." 

"  No  doubt."  Margaret's  tone  was  indifferent,  ab 
sent. 

Arkwright  hesitated  to  introduce  the  painful  subject, 
the  husband;  yet  he  had  a  certain  malicious  pleasure 
in  doing  it,  too.  "  Josh  wants  to  come  up,"  said  he. 
"  He's  down  at  the  desk,  champing  and  tramping  and 
pawing  holes  in  the  floor."  And  he  looked  at  her,  to 
note  the  impression  of  this  vivid,  adroitly-reminiscent 
picture. 

"  Not  yet,"  said  Margaret  curtly  and  coldly.  All 
of  a  sudden  she  buried  her  face  in  her  hands  and  burst 
into  tears. 

"  Rita  —  dear  Rita !  "  exclaimed  Grant,  his  own  eyes 
wet,  "  I  know  just  how  you  feel.  Am  I  not  suffering, 
too?  I  thought  I  didn't  care,  but  I  did  —  I  do.  Rita, 
it  isn't  too  late  yet  — " 

She  straightened ;  dried  her  eyes.  "  Stop  that, 
Grant !  "  she  said  peremptorily.  "  Stop  it !  " 

291 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

His  eyes  sank.     "  I  can't  bear  to  see  you  suffer." 

"  You  don't  mean  a  word  of  what  you've  just  said," 
she  went  on.  "  You  are  all  upset,  as  I  am.  You  are 
his  friend  and  mine."  Defiantly :  "  And  I  love  him, 
and  you  know  I  do." 

It  was  the  tone  of  one  giving  another  something  that 
must  be  repeated  by  rote.  "  That's  it,"  said  he,  some 
what  sullenly,  but  with  no  hint  of  protest.  "  I'm  all 
unstrung,  like  you,  and  like  him." 

"  And  you  will  forget  that  you  saw  me  crying." 

"  I'll  never  think  of  it  again." 

u  Now  go  and  bring  him,  please." 

He  went  quickly  toward  the  door. 

"  Grant ! "  she  cried.  As  he  turned  she  rose,  ad 
vanced  with  a  friendly  smile  and  put  out  her  hand  for 
his.  "  Thank  you,"  she  said.  "  You  have  shown 
yourself  our  best  friend." 

"  I  meant  to  be,"  he  answered  earnestly,  as  he  pressed 
her  hand.  "  When  I  pull  myself  together  I  think  you'll 
realize  I'm  some  decenter  than  I've  seemed  of  late." 

Madam  Bowker  came  just  as  he  returned  with  Craig. 
So  all  attention  was  concentrated  upon  the  meeting  of 
the  two  impossibilities.  The  old  lady  took  her  new 
relative's  hand  with  a  gracious,  queenly  smile  —  a  smile 
that  had  the  effect  both  of  making  him  grateful  and 

292 


THE  IDOL'S  FOOT 


of  keeping  him  "  in  his  place."  Said  she,  "  I  have  been 
writing  out  the  announcement." 

"  Thank  you,"  was  Joshua's  eager,  respectful  reply. 

She  gave  him  the  sheet  of  notepaper  she  was  carry 
ing  in  her  left  hand.  It  was  her  own  private  paper, 
heavy,  quiet,  rich,  engraved  with  aristocratic  simplicity, 
most  elegant;  and  most  elegant  was  the  handwriting. 
"  This,"  said  she,  "  is  to  be  given  out  in  addition  to  the 
formal  notice  which  Grant  will  send  to  the  newspapers." 

Craig  read: 

"  Mrs.  Bowker  announces  the  marriage  of  her 
grand-daughter,  Margaret  Severence,  and  Joshua 
Craig,  of  Wayne,  Minnesota,  and  Washington,  by 
the  Reverend  Doctor  Scones,  at  the  Waldorf,  this 
morning.  Only  a  few  relatives  and  Mr.  Craig's 
friend,  Mr.  Grant  Arkwright,  were  present.  The 
marriage  occurred  sooner  than  was  expected,  out 
of  consideration  for  Mrs.  Bowker,  as  she  is  very 
old,  and  wished  it  to  take  place  before  she  left  for 
her  summer  abroad." 

Craig  lifted  to  the  old  lady  the  admiring  glance  of 
a  satisfied  expert  in  public  opinion.  Their  eyes  met 
on  an  equality ;  for  an  instant  he  forgot  that  she  figured 

293 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

in  his  imagination  as  anything  more  than  a  human 
being.  "  Splendid ! "  cried  he,  with  hearty  enthu 
siasm.  "  You  have  covered  the  case  exactly.  Grant, 
telephone  for  an  Associated  Press  reporter  and  give 
him  this." 

"  I'll  copy  it  off  for  him,"  said  Grant. 

Madam  Bowker  and  Craig  exchanged  amused  glances. 
"  You'll  give  it  to  him  in  Madam  Bowker's  handwrit 
ing,"  ordered  Craig.  "  You  told  Scones  to  keep  his 
mouth  shut,  when  you  paid  him  ?  " 

The  other  three  looked  conscious,  and  Margaret  red 
dened  slightly  at  this  coarse  brusqueness  of  phrase. 
"  Yes,"  said  Grant.  "  He'll  refuse  to  be  interviewed. 
I'll  go  and  attend  to  this." 

"  We're  having  a  gala  lunch,  at  once  —  in  the  apart 
ment,"  said  the  old  lady.  "  So,  come  back  quickly." 

When  he  was  gone  she  said  to  the  two :  "  And  now 
what  are  your  plans  ?  " 

"  We  have  none,"  said  Craig:. 

O 

"  I  had  thought  — "  began  Margaret.  She  hesitated, 
colored,  went  on :  "  Grandmother,  couldn't  you  get  the 
Millicans'  camp  in  the  Adirondacks?  I  heard  Mrs. 
Millican  say  yesterday  they  had  got  it  all  ready  and 
had  suddenly  decided  to  go  abroad  instead." 

"Certainly,"  said  the  old  lady.  "I'll  telephone 
294 


THE  IDOL'S  FOOT 


about  it  at  once,  and  I'll  ask  the  Millicans  to  lunch 
with  us  to-day." 

She  left  them  alone.  Craig,  eyeing  his  bride  cov 
ertly,  had  a  sense  of  her  remoteness,  her  unattainability. 
He  was  like  a  man  who,  in  an  hour  of  rashness  and 
vanity,  has  boasted  that  he  can  attain  a  certain  mountain* 
peak,  and  finds  himsejf  stalled  at  its  very  base.  He 
decided  that  he  must  assert  himself;  he  tried  to  nerve 
himself  to  seize  her  in  his  old  precipitate,  boisterous 
fashion.  He  found  that  he  had  neither  the  desire  to  do 
so  nor  the  ability.  He  had  never  thought  her  so  full  of 
the  lady's  charm.  That  was  just  the  trouble  —  the 
lady's  charm,  not  the  human  being's;  not  the  charm 
feminine  for  the  male. 

"  I  hope  you'll  be  very  patient  with  me,"  said  she, 
with  a  wan  smile.  "  I  am  far  from  well.  I've  been 
debating  for  several  days  whether  or  not  to  give  up  and 
send  for  the  doctor." 

He  did  not  see  her  real  motive  in  thus  paving  the 
way  for  the  formation  of  the  habit  of  separate  lives ; 
he  eagerly  believed  her,  was  grateful  to  her,  was  glad 
she  was  ill.  So  quaint  is  the  interweaving  of  thought, 
there  flashed  into  his  mind  at  that  moment :  "  After  all, 
I  needn't  have  blown  in  so  much  money  on  trousseau. 
Maybe  I  can  get  'em  to  take  back  those  two  suits  of 

295 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

twenty-dollar  pajamas.  Grant  went  in  too  deep." 
This,  because  the  money  question  was  bothering  him 
greatly,  the  situation  that  would  arise  when  his  savings 
should  be  gone;  for  now  it  seemed  to  him  he  would 
never  have  the  courage  to  discuss  money  with  her. 
If  she  could  have  looked  in  upon  his  thoughts  she 
would  have  been  well  content;  there  was  every  indi 
cation  of  easy  sailing  for  her  scheme  to  reconstruct 
his  career. 

"  When  do  you  think  of  starting  for  the  Adiron- 
dacks  ?  "  he  asked,  with  a  timidity  of  preliminary  swal 
lowing  and  blushing  that  made  her  turn  away  her  face 
to  hide  her  smile.  How  completely  hers  was  the  situa 
tion!  She  felt  the  first  triumphant  thrill  of  her  new 
estate. 

"  To-night,"  she  replied.     "  We  can't  put  it  off." 

"  No,  we  can't  put  it  off,"  assented  he,  hesitation  in 
his  voice,  gloom  upon  his  brow.  "  Though,"  he  added, 
"  you  don't  look  at  all  well."  With  an  effort :  "  Mar 
garet,  are  you  glad  —  or  sorry  ?  " 

"  Glad,"  she  answered  in  a  firm,  resolute  tone.  It 
became  a  little  hard  in  its  practicality  as  she  added: 
"  You  were  quite  right.  We  took  the  only  course." 

"  You  asked  me  to  be  a  little  patient  with  you,"  he 
went  on. 

296 


THE  IDOL'S  FOOT 


She  trembled;  her  glance  fluttered  down. 

"  Well  —  I  —  I  —  you'll  have  to  be  a  little  patient 
with  me,  too."  He  was  red  with  embarrassment.  She 
looked  so  still  and  cold  and  repelling  that  he  could 
hardly  muster  voice  to  go  on :  "  You  can't  but  know, 
in  a  general  sort  of  way,  that  I'm  uncouth,  unaccus 
tomed  to  the  sort  of  thing  you've  had  all  your  life. 
I'm  going  to  do  my  best,  Margaret.  And  if  you'll  help 
me,  and  be  a  little  forbearing,  I  think  —  I  hope  — 
you'll  soon  find  I'm  —  I'm  —  oh,  you  understand." 

She  had  given  a  stealthy  sigh  of  relief  when  she  dis 
covered  that  he  was  not  making  the  protest  she  had 
feared.  "Yes,  I  understand,"  replied  she,  her  manner 
a  gentle  graciousness,  which  in  some  moods  would  have 
sent  his  pride  flaring  against  the  very  heavens  in  angry 
scorn.  But  he  thought  her  most  sweet  and  considerate, 
and  she  softened  toward  him  with  pity.  It  was  very 
pleasant  thus  to  be  looked  up  to,  and,  being  human, 
she  felt  anything  but  a  lessened  esteem  for  her  qualities 
of  delicateness  and  refinement,  of  patrician  breeding, 
when  she  saw  him  thus  on  his  knees  before  them.  He 
had  invited  her  to  look  down  on  him,  and  she  .was  ac 
cepting  an  invitation  which  it  is  not  in  human  nature 
to  decline. 

There  was  one  subject  she  had  always  avoided  with 
297 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

him  —  the  subject  of  his  family.  He  had  not  exactly 
avoided  it,  indeed,  had  spoken  occasionally  of  his  broth 
ers  and  sisters,  their  wives  and  husbands,  their  children. 
But  his  reference  to  these  humble  persons,  so  far  re 
moved  from  the  station  to  which  he  had  ascended,  had 
impressed  her  as  being  dragged  in  by  the  ears,  as  if 
he  were  forcing  himself  to  pretend  to  himself  and  to  her 
that  he  was  not  ashamed  of  them,  when  in  reality  he 
could  not  but  be  ashamed.  She  felt  that  now  was  the 
time  to  bring  up  this  subject  and  dispose  of  it. 

Said  she  graciously :  "  I'm  sorry  your  father  and 
mother  aren't  living.  I'd  like  to  have  known  them." 

He  grew  red.  He  was  seeing  a  tiny,  unkempt  cottage 
in  the  outskirts  of  Wayne,  poor,  even  for  that  modest 
little  town.  He  was  seeing  a  bent,  gaunt  old  laborer  in 
jeans,  smoking  a  pipe  on  the  doorsill ;  he  was  seeing,  in 
the  kitchen-dining-room-sitting-room-parlor,  disclosed 
by  the  open  door,  a  stout,  aggressive-looking  laborer's 
wife  in  faded  calico,  doing  the  few  thick  china  dishes 
in  dented  dishpan  on  rickety  old  table.  "  Yes,"  said 
he,  with  not  a  trace  of  sincerity  in  his  ashamed,  con 
strained  voice,  "  I  wish  so,  too." 

She  understood ;  she  felt  sorry  for  him,  proud  of  her 
self.  Was  it  not  fine  and  noble  of  her  thus  to  conde 
scend?  "But  there  are  your  brothers  and  sisters,"  she 

298 


THE  IDOL'S  FOOT 


went  graciously  on.     "  I  must  meet  them  some  time." 
"  Yes,  some  time,"  said  he,  laboriously  pumping  a 
thin,  watery  pretense  of  enthusiasm  into  his  voice. 

She  had  done  her  duty  by  his  dreadful,  impossible 
family.  She  passed  glibly  to  other  subjects.  He  was 
glad  she  had  had  the  ladylike  tact  not  to  look  at  him 
during  the  episode;  he  wouldn't  have  liked  any  human 
being  to  see  the  look  he  knew  his  face  was  wearing. 

In  the  press  of  agitating  events,  both  forgot  the  inci 
dent  —  for  the  time. 


299 


CHAPTER  XXI 

A    SWOOP    AND    A    SCRATCH 

When  Molly  Stillwater  heard  that  Margaret  and  her 
*'  wild  man  "  had  gone  into  the  woods  for  their  honey 
moon  she  said :  "  Rita's  got  to  tame  him  and  train 
him  for  human  society.  So  she's  taken  him  where  there 
are  no  neighbors  to  hear  him  scream  as  —  as  — " 
Molly  cast  about  in  her  stock  of  slang  for  a  phrase  that 
was  vigorous  enough  — "  as  she  *  puts  the  boots  '  to 
him." 

It  was  a  shrewd  guess ;  Margaret  had  decided  that  she 
could  do  more  toward  "  civilizing  "  him  in  those  few 
first  weeks  and  in  solitude  than  in  years  of  teaching  at 
odd  times.  In  China,  at  the  marriage  feast,  the  bride 
and  the  groom  each  struggle  to  be  first  to  sit  on  the 
robe  of  the  other;  the  idea  is  that  the  winner  will 
thenceforth  rule.  As  the  Chinese  have  been  many  ages 
at  the  business  of  living,  the  custom  should  not  be  dis 
missed  too  summarily  as  mere  vain  and  heathenish  super 
stition.  At  any  rate,  Margaret  had  reasoned  it  out 
that  she  must  get  the  advantage  in  the  impending  initial 

300 


A   SWOOP  AND   A   SCRATCH 

grapple  and  tussle  of  their  individualities,  or  choose  be 
tween  slavery  and  divorce.  With  him  handicapped  by 
awe  of  her,  by  almost  groveling  respect  for  her  ideas 
and  feelings  in  all  man  and  woman  matters,  domestic 
and  social,  it  seemed  to  her  that  she  could  be  worsted 
only  by  a  miracle  of  stupidity  on  her  part. 

Never  had  he  been  so  nearly  "  like  an  ordinary  man 
—  like  a  gentleman  " —  as  when  they  set  out  for  the 
Adirondacks.  She  could  scarcely  believe  her  own  eyes, 
and  she  warmed  to  him  and  felt  that  she  had  been 
greatly  overestimating  her  task.  He  had  on  one  of  the 
suits  he  had  bought  ready  made  that  morning.  It  was 
of  rough  blue  cloth  —  dark  blue  —  most  becoming  and 
well  draped  to  show  to  advantage  his  lithe,  powerful 
frame,  its  sinews  so  much  more  manly-looking  than  the 
muscularity  of  artificially  got  protuberances  usually 
seen  in  the  prosperous  classes  in  our  Eastern  cities. 
Grant  had  selected  the  suit,  had  selected  all  the  suits, 
and  had  superintended  the  fittings.  Grant  had  also 
selected  the  negligee  shirt  and  the  fashionable  collar, 
and  the  bright,  yet  not  gaudy,  tie,  and  Grant  had 
selected  the  shoes  that  made  his  feet  look  like  feet;  and 
Grant  had  conducted  him  to  a  proper  barber,  who  had 
reduced  the  mop  of  hair  to  proportion  and  order,  and 
had  restored  its  natural  color  and  look  of  vitality  by  a 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

thorough  shampooing.  In  brief,  Grant  had  taken  a 
gloomy  pleasure  in  putting  his  successful  rival  through 
the  machine  of  civilization  and  bringing  him  out  a  city 
man,  agreeable  to  sight,  smell  and  touch. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  when  the  process  was  finished,  "  for 
Heaven's  sake  try  to  keep  yourself  up  to  the  mark. 
Take  a  cold  bath  every  morning  and  a  warm  bath  be 
fore  dinner." 

"  I  have  been  taking  a  cold  bath  every  day  since  I 
got  my  private  bathroom,"  said  Joshua,  with  honest 
pride. 

"  Then  you're  just  as  dirty  as  the  average  English 
man.  He  takes  a  cold  bath  and  fancies  he's  clean,  when 
in  fact  he's  only  clean-looking.  Cold  water  merely 
stimulates.  It  takes  warm  water  and  soap  to  keep  a 
man  clean." 

"  I'll  bear  that  in  mind,"  said  Craig,  with  a  docility 
that  flattered  Grant  as  kindly  attentions  from  a  fierce- 
looking  dog  flatter  the  timid  stranger. 

"  And  you  must  take  care  of  your  clothes,  too,"  pro 
ceeded  the  arbiter  elegantiarum.  "  Fold  your  trousers 
when  you  take  them  off,  and  have  them  pressed.  Get 
your  hair  cut  once  a  week  —  have  a  regular  day  for  it. 
Trim  your  nails  twice  a  week.  I've  got  you  a  safety 
razor.  Shave  at  least  once  a  day  —  first  thing  after 

302 


A   SWOOP  AND   A   SCRATCH 

you  get  out  of  bed  is  the  best  time.  And  change  your 
linen  every  day.  Don't  think  because  a  shirt  isn't 
downright  dirty  that  you  can  pass  it  off  for  fresh." 

"  Just  write  those  things  down,"  said  Josh.  "  And 
any  others  of  the  same  kind  you  happen  to  think  of.  I 
hate  to  think  what  a  state  I'd  be  in  if  I  hadn't  you. 
Don't  imagine  I'm  not  appreciating  the  self-sacrifice." 

Grant  looked  sheepish.  But  he  felt  that  his  shame 
was  unwarranted,  that  he  really  deserved  Craig's  tactless 
praise.  So  he  observed  virtuously :  "  That's  where 
we  men  are  beyond  the  women.  Now,  if  it  were  one 
woman  fixing  up  another,  the  chances  are  a  thousand 
to  one  she'd  play  the  cat,  and  get  clothes  and  give  sug 
gestions  that'd  mean  ruin." 

It  may  not  speak  well  for  Arkwright's  capacity  for 
emotion,  but  it  certainly  speaks  well  for  his  amiability 
and  philanthropy  that  doing  these  things  for  Craig 
had  so  far  enlisted  him  that  he  was  almost  as  anxious  as 
the  fluttered  and  flustered  bridegroom  himself  for  the 
success  of  the  adventure.  He  wished  he  could  go  along, 
in  disguise,  as  a  sort  of  valet  and  prime  minister  —  to 
be  ever  near  Josh  to  coach  and  advise  and  guide  him. 
For  it  seemed  to  him  that  success  or  failure  in  this 
honeymooning  hung  upon  the  success  or  failure  of  Craig 
in  practising  the  precepts  that  for  Grant  and  his  kind 

303 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

take  precedence  of  the  moral  code.  He  spent  an  earn 
est  and  exhausting  hour  in  neatly  and  carefully  writing 
out  the  instructions,  as  Craig  had  requested.  He  per 
formed  this  service  with  a  gravity  that  would  move  some 
people  to  the  same  sort  of  laughter  and  wonder  that  is 
excited  by  the  human  doings  of  a  trained  chimpanzee. 
But  Craig  —  the  wild  man,  the  arch  foe  of  effeteness, 
the  apostle  of  the  simple  life  of  yarn  sock  and  tallowed 
boot  and  homespun  pants  and  hairy  jaw  —  Craig  ac 
cepted  the  service  with  heartfelt  thanks  in  his  shaking 
voice  and  moist  eye. 

Thus  the  opening  of  the  honeymoon  was  most  aus 
picious.  Craig,  too  much  in  awe  of  Margaret  to  bother 
her,  and  busy  about  matters  that  concerned  himself 
alone,  was  a  model  of  caution,  restraint  and  civility. 
Margaret,  apparently  calm,  aloof  and  ladylike,  was 
really  watching  his  discreet  conduct  as  a  hawk  watches 
a  sheltered  hen ;  she  began  to  indulge  in  pleasant  hopes 
that  Joshua's  wild  days  had  come  to  an  abrupt  end. 
Why,  he  was  even  restrained  in  conversation ;  he  did  not 
interrupt  her  often,  instantly  apologized  and  forebore 
when  he  did;  he  poured  out  none  of  his  wonted  sopho- 
moric  diatribes,  sometimes  sensible,  more  often  inane, 
as  the  prattle  of  a  great  man  in  his  hour  of  relaxation 
is  apt  to  be.  She  had  to  do  most  of  the  talking  — 

304 


A    SWOOP   AND   A    SCRATCH 

and  you  may  be  sure  that  she  directed  her  conversation 
to  conveying  under  an  appearance  of  lightness  many 
valuable  lessons  in  the  true  wisdom  of  life  as  it  is  re 
vealed  only  to  the  fashionable  idle.  She  was  careful 
not  to  overdo,  not  to  provoke,  above  all  not  to  put  him 
at  his  ease. 

Her  fiction  of  ill  health,  of  threatened  nervous  pros 
tration,  also  served  to  free  her  from  an  overdose  of  his 
society  during  the  long  and  difficult  days  in  that  event 
less  solitude.  He  was  all  for  arduous  tramps  through 
the  woods,  for  excursions  in  canoe  under  the  fierce  sun. 
She  insisted  on  his  enjoying  himself — "  but  I  don't  feel 
equal  to  any  such  exertion.  I  simply  must  rest  and 
take  care  of  myself."  She  was  somewhat  surprised  at 
his  simplicity  in  believing  her  health  was  anything  but 
robust,  when  her  appearance  gave  the  lie  direct  to  her 
hints  and  regrets.  While  he  was  off  with  one  of  the 
guides  she  stayed  at  camp,  reading,  working  at  herself 
M-ith  the  aid  of  Selina,  revolving  and  maturing  her  plans. 

When  she  saw  him  she  saw  him  at  his  best.  He 
showed  up  especially  well  at  swimming.  She  was  a 
notable  figure  herself  in  bathing  suit,  and  could  swim  in 
a  nice,  ladylike  way ;  but  he  was  a  water  creature  — 
indeed,  seemed  more  at  home  in  the  water  than  on  land. 
She  liked  to  watch  his  long,  strong,  narrow  body  cut 

305 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 


the  surface  of  the  transparent  lake  with  no  loss  of 
energy  in  splashing  or  display  —  as  easy  and  swift  as 
a  fish.  She  began  to  fear  she  had  made  a  mistake  in 
selecting  a  place  for  her  school  for  a  husband.  "  He's 
in  his  element  —  this  wilderness,"  thought  she,  "  not 
mine.  I'll  take  him  back  with  everything  still  to  be 
done." 

And,  worst  of  all,  she  found  herself  losing  her  sense 
of  proportion,  her  respect  for  her  fashionable  idols. 
Those  vast  woods,  that  infinite  summer  sky  —  they  were 
giving  her  a  new  and  far  from  practical  point  of  view 
—  especially  upon  the  petty  trickeries  and  posturings 
of  the  ludicrously  self-important  human  specks  that 
crawl  about  upon  the  earth  and  hastily  begin  to  act 
queer  and  absurd  as  soon  as  they  come  in  sight  of  each 
other.  She  found  herself  rapidly  developing  that  latent 
"  sentimentality  "  which  her  grandmother  had  so  often 
rebuked  and  warned  her  against  —  which  Lucia  had  in 
sisted  was  her  real  self.  Her  imagination  beat  the  bars 
of  the  cage  of  convention  in  which  she  had  imprisoned 
it,  and  cried  out  for  free,  large,  natural  emotions  — 
those  that  make  the  blood  leap  and  the  flesh  tingle,  that 
put  music  in  the  voice  and  softness  in  the  glance  and  the 
intense  joy  of  life  in  the  heart.  And  she  began  to 
revolve  him  before  eyes  that  searched  hopefully  for  pos- 

306 


A    SWOOP  AND   A    SCRATCH 

sibilities   of  his  giving  her  precisely  what  her  nerves 
craved. 

"  It  would  be  queer,  wouldn't  it,"  she  mused  —  she 
was  watching  him  swim  — "  if  it  should  turn  out  that  I 
had  come  up  here  to  learn,  instead  of  to  teach  ?  " 

And  he —  In  large  presences  he  was  always  at  his 
best  —  in  the  large  situations  of  affairs,  in  these  large, 
tranquillizing  horizons  of  nature.  He,  too,  began  to 
forget  that  she  was  a  refined,  delicate,  sensitive  lady, 
with  nerves  that  writhed  under  breaks  in  manners  and 
could  in  no  wise  endure  a  slip  in  grammar,  unless,  of 
course,  it  was  one  of  those  indorsed  by  fashionable 
usage.  His  health  came  flooding  and  roaring  back  in 
its  fullness ;  and  day  by  day  the  difficulty  of  restraining 
himself  from  loud  laughter  and  strong,  plebeian  action 
became  more  appalling  to  him.  He  would  leave  the 
camp,  set  off  at  a  run  as  soon  as  he  got  safely  out  of 
sight;  and,  when  he  was  sure  of  seclusion  in  distance, 
he  would  "  cut  loose  " —  yell  and  laugh  and  caper  like 
a  true  madman ;  tear  off  his  superfluous  clothes,  splash 
and  thresh  in  some  lonely  lake  like  a  baby  whale  that 
has  not  yet  had  the  primary  lessons  in  how  to  behave. 
When  he  returned  to  camp,  subdued  in  manner,  like  a 
bad  boy  after  recess,  he  was,  in  fact,  not  one  bit  sub 
dued  beneath  the  surface,  but  the  more  fractious  for  his 

307 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 


outburst.  Each  day  his  animal  spirits  surged  higher; 
each  day  her  sway  of  awe  and  respect  grew  more  pre 
carious.  She  thought  his  increasing  silence,  his  really 
ridiculous  formality  of  politeness,  his  stammering  and 
red-cheeked  dread  of  intrusion  meant  a  deepening  of 
the  sense  of  the  social  gulf  that  rolled  between  them. 
She  recalled  their  conversation  about  his  relatives. 
"  Poor  fellow ! "  thought  she.  "  I  suppose  it's  quite 
impossible  for  people  of  my  sort  to  realize  what  a  man 
of  his  birth  and  bringing  up  feels  in  circumstances  like 
these."  Little  did  she  dream,  in  her  exaltation  of  self- 
complacence  and  superiority,  that  the  "  poor  fellow's  " 
clumsy  formalities  were  the  thin  cover  for  a  tempest 
of  wild-man's  wild  emotion. 

Curiously,  she  "  got  on "  his  nerves  before  he  on 
hers.  It  was  through  her  habit  of  rising  late  and  tak 
ing  hours  to  dress.  Part  of  his  code  of  conduct  —  an 
interpolation  of  his  own  into  the  Arkwright  manual  for 
a  honeymooning  gentleman  —  was  that  he  ought  to 
wait  until  she  was  ready  to  breakfast,  before  breakfast 
ing  himself.  Several  mornings  she  heard  tempestuous 
sounds  round  the  camp  for  two  hours  before  she  emerged 
from  her  room.  She  knew  these  sounds  came  from  him, 
though  all  was  quiet  as  soon  as  she  appeared;  and  she 
very  soon  thought  out  the  reason  for  his  uproar.  Next, 

308 


A    SWOOP   AND   A    SCRATCH 

his  anger  could  not  subdue  itself  beyond  surliness  on 
her  appearing,  and  the  surliness  lasted  through  the  first 
part  of  breakfast.  Finally,  one  morning  she  heard  him 
calling  her  when  she  was  about  half-way  through  her 
leisurely  toilette:  "Margaret!  Margaret!" 

"Yes  —  what  is  it?" 

"  Do  come  out.  You're  missing  the  best  part  of  the 
day." 

"  All  right  —  in  a  minute." 

She  continued  with,  if  anything,  a  slackening  of  her 
exertions ;  she  appeared  about  an  hour  after  she  had 
said  "  in  a  minute."  He  was  ready  to  speak,  and  speak 
sharply.  But  one  glance  at  her,  at  the  exquisite  toilette 
—  of  the  woods,  yet  of  the  civilization  that  dwells  in 
palaces  and  reposes  languidly  upon  the  exertions  of 
menials  —  at  her  cooling,  subduing  eyes,  so  graciously 
haughty  —  and  he  shut  his  lips  together  and  subsided. 

The  next  morning  it  was  a  knock  at  her  door  just  as 
she  was  waking  —  or  had  it  waked  her?  "  Yes  —  what 
is  it?" 

"  Do  come  out !     I'm  half  starved." 

The  voice  was  pleading,  not  at  all  commanding,  not 
at  all  the  aggressive,  dictatorial  voice  of  the  Josh  Craig 
of  less  than  a  month  before.  But  it  was  distinctly  rem 
iniscent  of  that  Craig;  it  was  plainly  the  first  faint 

309 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

murmur,  not  of  rebellion,  but  of  the  spirit  of  rebellion. 
Margaret  retorted  with  an  icily  polite,  "  Please  don't 
wait  for  me." 

"  Yes,  I'll  wait.  But  be  as  quick  as  you  can." 
Margaret  neither  hastened  nor  dallied.  She  came 
forth  at  the  end  of  an  hour  and  a  half.  Josh,  to  her 
surprise,  greeted  her  as  if  she  had  not  kept  him  wait 
ing  an  instant ;  not  a  glance  of  sullenness,  no  suppressed 
irritation  in  his  voice.  Next  morning  the  knock  was  a 
summons. 

"  Margaret !  I  say,  Margaret !  "  came  in  tones  made 
bold  and  fierce  by  hunger.  "  I've  been  waiting  nearly 
two  hours." 

"For  what?"  inquired  she  frigidly  from  the  other 
side  of  the  door. 
"  For  breakfast." 

"  Oh !     Go  ahead  with  it.     I'm  not  even  up  yet." 
"  You've  been  shut  in  there  ten  hours." 
"What  of  it?"  retorted  she  sharply.     "Go  away, 
and  don't  bother  me." 

He  had  put  her  into  such  an  ill  humor  that  when  she 
came  out,  two  hours  later,  her  stormy  brow,  her  gleam 
ing  hazel  eyes  showed  she  was  "  looking  for  trouble." 
He  was  still  breakfastless  —  he  well  knew  how  to  ma 
nipulate  his  weaknesses  so  that  his  purposes  could  cow 

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A    SWOOP   AND   A    SCRATCH 

them,  could  even  use  them.  He  answered  her  lowering 
glance  with  a  flash  of  his  blue-green  eyes  like  lightning 
from  the  dark  head  of  a  thunder-cloud.  "  Do  you 
know  it  is  nine  o'clock?  "  demanded  he. 

"  So  early?  I  try  to  get  up  late  so  that  the  days 
won't  seem  so  long." 

He  abandoned  the  field  to  her,  and  she  thought  him 
permanently  beaten.  She  had  yet  to  learn  the  depths 
of  his  sagacity  that  never  gave  battle  until  the  time 
was  auspicious. 

Two  mornings  later  he  returned  to  the  attack. 

"  I  see  your  light  burning  every  night  until  mid 
night,"  said  he  —  at  breakfast  with  her,  after  the  usual 
wait. 

"  I  read  myself  to  sleep,"  explained  she. 

"  Do  you  think  that's  good  for  you?  " 

"  I  don't  notice  any  ill  effects." 

"  You  say  your  health  doesn't  improve  as  rapidly  as 
you  hoped." 

Check!  She  reddened  with  guilt  and  exasperation. 
"  What  a  sly  trick !  "  thought  she.  She  answered  him 
with  a  cold :  "  I  always  have  read  myself  to  sleep,  and 
I  fancy  I  always  shall." 

"  If  you  went  to  sleep  earlier,"  observed  he,  his  air 
unmistakably  that  of  the  victor  conscious  of  victory, 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  vou'd  not  keep  me  raging  round  two  or  three  hours 
for  breakfast." 

"  How  often  I've  asked  you  not  to  wait  for  me !  I 
prefer  to  breakfast  alone,  anyhow.  It's  the  dreadful 
habit  of  breakfasting  together  that  causes  people  to 
get  on  together  so  badly." 

"  I'd  not  feel  right,"  said  he,  moderately,  but  firmly, 
"  if  I  didn't  see  you  at  breakfast." 

She  sat  silent  —  thinking.  He  felt  what  she  was 
thinking  —  how  common  this  was,  how  "  middle  class," 
how  "  bourgeois,"  she  was  calling,  it.  "  Bourgeois  " 
was  her  favorite  word  for  all  that  she  objected  to  in 
him,  for  all  she  was  trying  to  train  out  of  him  by  what 
she  regarded  as  most  artistically  indirect  lessons.  He 
felt  that  their  talk  about  his  family,  what  he  had  said, 
had  shown  he  felt,  was  recurring  to  her.  He  grew  red, 
burned  with  shame  from  head  to  foot. 

"What  a  fool,  what  a  pup  I  was!"  he  said  to 
himself.  "  If  she  had  been  a  real  lady  —  no,  by  gad 
—  a  real  woman  —  she'd  have  shown  that  she  despised 
me." 

Again  and  again  that  incident  had  come  back  to  him. 
It  had  been,  perhaps,  the  most  powerful  factor  in  his 
patience  with  her  airs  and  condescensions.  He  felt  that 
it,  the  lowest  dip  of  his  degradation  in  snobism,  had 

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A    SWOOP   AND   A    SCRATCH 

given  her  the  right  to  keep  him  in  his  place.  It  seemed 
to  him  one  of  those  frightful  crimes  against  self-respect 
which  can  never  be  atoned,  and,  bad  as  he  thought  it 
from  the  standpoint  of  good  sense  as  to  the  way  to  get 
on  with  her,  he  suffered  far  more  because  it  was  such 
a  stinging,  scoffing  denial  of  all  his  pretenses  of  personal 
pride.  "  Her  sensibilities  have  been  too  blunted  by 
association  with  those  Washington  vulgarians,"  he 
reasoned,  "  for  her  to  realize  the  enormity  of  my^ 
offense,  but  she  realizes  enough  to  look  down  at  me 
more  contemptuously  every  time  she  recalls  it."  How 
ever,  the  greater  the  blunder  the  greater  the  necessity 
of  repairing.  He  resolutely  thrust  his  self-abasing 
thoughts  to  the  background  of  his  mind,  and  began 
afresh. 

"  Fm  sure,"  said  he,  "  you'd  not  mind,  once  you  got 
used  to  it." 

She  was  startled  out  of  her  abstraction.  "  Used  to 
—  what  ?  "  she  inquired. 

"  To  getting  up  early." 

"  Oh !  "  She  gave  a  relieved  laugh.  "  Still  harping 
on  that.  How  persistent  you  are !  " 

"  You  could  accomplish  twice  as  much  if  you  got  up 
early  and  made  a  right  start." 

She  frowned  slightly.  "  Couldn't  think  of  it,"  said 
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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

she,  in  the  tone  of  one  whose  forbearance  is  about  at  an 
end.     "  I  hate  the  early  morning." 

"  We  usually  hate  what's  best  for  us.  But,  if  we're 
sensible,  we  do  it  until  it  becomes  a  habit  that  we  don't 
mind  —  or  positively  like." 

This  philosophy  of  the  indisputable  and  the  sensible 
brimmed  the  measure.  "  What  would  you  think  of  me," 
said  she,  in  her  pleasantest,  most  deliberately  irritating 
way  in  the  world,  "  if  I  were  to  insist  that  you  get  up 
late  and  breakfast  late?  You  should  learn  to  let  live 
as  well  as  to  live.  You  are  too  fond  of  trying  to  com 
pel  everybody  to  do  as  you  wish." 

"  I  make  'em  see  that  what  I  wish  is  what  they  ought. 
That's  not  compelling." 

"  It's  even  more  unpopular." 

"  I'm  not  looking  for  popularity,  but  for  success." 
"  Well,  please  don't  annoy  me  in  the  mornings  here 
after." 

"  You  don't  seem  to  realize  you've  renounced  your 
foolish  idlers  and  all  their  ways,  and  have  joined  the 
working  classes."  His  good  humor  had  come  back  with 
breakfast;  he  had  finished. two  large  trout,  much  bread 
and  marmalade  and  coffee  —  and  it  had  given  her  a 
pleasure  that  somehow  seemed  vulgar  and  forbidden  to 
see  him  eat  so  vastly,  with  such  obvious  delight.  As 

314 


he  made  his  jest  about  her  entry  into  the  working  classes 

—  she  who  suggested  a  queen  bee,  to  employ  the  labors 
of  a  whole  army  of  willing  toilers,  while  she  herself 
toiled  not  —  he  was  tilted  back  at  his  ease,  smoking  a 
cigarette   and   watching   the   sunbeams    sparkle   in    the 
waves   of  her  black   hair   like   jewels   showered   there. 
"  You're    surely   quite   well   again,"   he   went    on,    the 
trend  of  his  thought  so  hidden  that  he  did  not  see  it 
himself. 

"  I  don't  feel  especially  well,"  said  she,  instantly  on 
guard. 

He  laughed.  "  You'd  not  dare  say  that  to  yourself 
in  the  mirror.  You  have  wonderful  color.  Your  eyes 

—  there  never  was  anything  so  clear.     You  were  always 
straight  —  that  was  one  of  the  things  I  admired  about 
you.     But  now,  you  seem  to  be  straight  without  the 
slightest   effort  —  the  natural   straightness   of   a   sap- 
ling." 

This  was  most  agreeable,  for  she  loved  compliments, 
liked  to  discover  that  the  charms  which  she  herself  saw 
in  herself  were  really  there.  But  encouraging  such 
talk  was  not  compatible  with  the  course  she  had  laid 
out  for  herself  with  him.  She  continued  silent  and 
cold. 

"  If  you'd  only  go  to  sleep  early,  and  get  up  early, 
315 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

and  drop  all  that  the  railway  train  carried  us  away 
from,  you'd  be  as  happy  as  the  birds  and  the  deer  and 
the  fish." 

"  I  shall  not  change  my  habits,"  said  she  tartly. 
"  I  hope  you'll  drop  the  subject." 

He  leaned  across  the  table  toward  her,  the  same  charm 
now  in  his  face  and  in  his  voice  that  had  drawn  her 
when  she  first  heard  him  in  public  speech.  "  Let's  sup 
pose  I'm  a  woodchopper,  and  you  are  my  wife.  We've 
never  been  anywhere  but  just  here.  We're  going  to  live 
here  all  our  lives  —  just  you  and  I  —  and  no  one  else 
—  and  we  don't  want  any  one  else.  And  we  love  each 
other—" 

It  was  very  alluring,  but  there  was  duty  frowning 
upon  her  yielding  senses.  "  Please  don't  let  that  smoke 
drift  into  my  face,"  said  she  crossly.  "  It's  choking 
me." 

He  flung  away  the  cigarette.  "  Beg  pardon,"  he 
muttered,  between  anger  and  humility.  "  Thought  you 
didn't  mind  smoking." 

She  was  ashamed  of  herself,  and  grew  still  angrier. 
"  If  you'd  only  think  about  some  one  beside  yourself 
once  in  a  while,"  said  she.  "  You  quite  wear  people 
out,  with  your  everlasting  thinking  and  talking  about 
yourself." 

316 


A   SWOOP  AND   A    SCRATCH 

"  You'd  better  stop  that  midnight  reading,"  flared 
he.  "  Your  temper  is  going  to  the  devil." 

She  rose  with  great  dignity ;  with  an  expression  that 
seemed  to  send  him  tumbling  and  her  soaring  she  went 
into  the  house. 

In  some  moods  he  would  have  lain  where  he  fell  for 
quite  a  while.  But  his  mood  of  delight  in  her  charms  as 
a  woman  had  completely  eclipsed  his  deference  for  her 
charms  as  a  lady.  He  hesitated  only  a  second,  then 
followed  her,  overtook  her  at  the  entrance  to  her 
room.  She,  hearing  him  coming,  did  not  face  about 
and  put  him  back  in  his  place  with  one  haughty  look. 
Instead,  she  in  impulsive,  most  ill-timed  panic,  quickened 
her  step.  When  the  woman  flees,  the  man,  if  there  be 
any  manhood  in  him,  pursues.  He  caught  her,  held  her 
fast. 

"  Let  me  go ! "  she  cried,  not  with  the  compelling 
force  of  offended  dignity,  but  with  the  hysterical  in 
effectiveness  of  terror.  "  You  are  rough.  You  hurt." 

He  laughed,  turned  her  about  in  his  arms  until  she 
was  facing  him.  "  The  odor  of  those  pines,  out  there," 
he  said,  "  makes  me  drunk,  and  the  odor  of  your  hair 
makes  me  insane."  And  he  was  kissing  her  —  those 
fierce,  strong  caresses  that  at  once  repelled  and  com 
pelled  her. 

317 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  I  hate  you !  "  she  panted.     "  I  hate  you !  " 

"Oh,  no,  you  don't,"  retorted  he.  "That  isn't 
what's  in  your  eyes."  And  he  held  her  so  tightly  that 
she  was  almost  crying  out  with  pain. 

"  Please  —  please !  "  she  gasped.  And  she  wrenched 
to  free  herself.  One  of  his  hands  slipped,  his  nail  tore 
a  long  gash  in  her  neck ;  the  blood  spurted  out,  she  gave 
a  loud  cry,  an  exaggerated  cry  —  for  the  pain,  some 
how,  had  a  certain  pleasure  in  it.  He  released  her, 
stared  vacantly  at  the  wound  he  had  made.  She  rushed 
into  her  room,  slammed  the  door  and  locked  it. 

"  Margaret !  "  he  implored. 

She  did  not  answer;  he  knew  she  would  not.  He  sat 
miserably  at  her  door  for  an  hour,  then  wandered  out 
into  the  woods,  and  stayed  there  until  dinner-time. 

When  he  came  in  she  was  sitting  by  the  lake,  reading 
a  French  novel.  To  him,  who  knew  only  his  own  lan 
guage,  there  was  something  peculiarly  refined  and  ele 
gant  about  her  ability  at  French;  he  thought,  as  did 
she,  that  she  spoke  F.rench  like  a  native,  though,  in  fact, 
her  accent  was  almost  British,  and  her  understanding  of 
it  was  just  about  what  can  be  expected  in  a  person  who 
has  never  made  a  thorough  study  of  any  language.  As 
he  advanced  toward  her  she  seemed  unconscious  of  his 
presence.  But  she  was  seeing  him  distinctly,  and  so 

318 


A    SWOOP  AND   A    SCRATCH 

ludicrous  a  figure  of  shy  and  sheepish  contrition  was  he 
making  that  she  with  difficulty  restrained  her  laughter. 
He  glanced  guiltily  at  the  long,  red  scratch  on  the 
pallid  whiteness  of  her  throat. 

"  I'm  ashamed  of  myself,"  said  he  humbly.  "  I'm 
not  fit  to  touch  a  person  like  you.  I  —  I — " 

She  was  not  so  mean  as  she  had  thought  she  would 
be.  "  It  was  nothing,"  said  she  pleasantly,  if  distantly. 
"  Is  dinner  ready  ?  " 

Once  more  she  had  him  where  she  wished  —  abject, 
apologetic,  conscious  of  the  high  honor  of  merely  being 
permitted  to  associate  with  her.  She  could  relax  and 
unbend  again ;  she  was  safe  from  his  cyclones. 


319 


CHAPTER  XXII 

GETTING  ACQUAINTED 

Her  opportunity  definitely  to  begin  her  campaign  to 
lift  him  up  out  of  politics  finally  came.  She  had  been 
doing  something  in  that  direction  almost  every  day. 
She  must  be  careful  not  to  alarm  his  vanity  of  being 
absolute  master  of  his  own  destiny.  The  idea  of  leav 
ing  politics  and  practising  law  in  New  York,  must  seem 
to  originate  and  to  grow  in  his  own  brain ;  she  would 
seem  to  be  merely  assenting.  Also,  it  was  a  delicate 
matter  because  the  basic  reason  for  the  change  was 
money;  and  it  was  her  cue  as  a  lady,  refined  and  sensi 
tive  and  wholly  free  from  sordidness,  so  to  act  that  he 
would  think  her  loftily  indifferent  to  money.  She  had 
learned  from  dealing  with  her  grandmother  that  the 
way  to  get  the  most  money  was  by  seeming  ignorant 
of  money  values,  a  cover  behind  which  she  could  shame 
Madam  Bowker  into  giving  a  great  deal  more  than  she 
would  have  given  on  direct  and  specific  demand.  For 
instance,  she  could  get  more  from  the  old  lady  than 
could  her  mother,  who  explained  just  what  she  wanted 

320 


GETTING  ACQUAINTED 

the  money  for  and  acted  as  if  the  giving  were  a  great 
favor.  No,  she  must  never  get  with  him  on  a  footing 
where  he  could  discuss  money  matters  frankly  with 
her;  she  must  simply  make  him  realize  how  attractive 
luxury  was,  how  necessary  it  was  to  her,  how  confidently 
she  looked  to  him  to  provide  it,  how  blindly,  in  her 
ignorance  of  money  and  all  sordid  matters,  she  trusted 
to  him  to  maintain  her  as  a  wife  such  as  she  must  be 
maintained.  She  knew  she  did  not  understand  him 
thoroughly  — "  we've  been  so  differently  brought  up." 
But  she  felt  that  the  kind  of  life  that  pleased  her  and 
dazzled  him  must  be  the  kind  he  really  wished  to  lead 
—  and  would  see  he  wished  to  lead,  once  he  extricated 
himself,  with  her  adroit  assistance,  from  the  kind  of 
life  to  which  his  vociferous  pretenses  had  committed 
him. 

Whether  her  subtleties  in  furtherance  of  creating  a 
sane  state  of  mind  in  him  had  penetrated  to  him,  she 
could  not  tell.  In  the  earliest  step  of  their  acquaint 
ance  she  had  studied  him  as  a  matrimonial  possibility, 
after  the  habit  of  young  women  with  each  unattached 
man  they  add  to  their  list  of  acquaintances.  And  she 
had  then  discovered  that  whenever  he  was  seriously  re 
volving  any  matter  he  never  spoke  of  it;  he  would  be 
voluble  about  everything  and  anything  else  under  the 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

sun,  would  seem  to  be  unbosoming  himself  of  his  bot 
tommost  secret  of  thought  and  action,  but  would  not  let 
escape  so  much  as  the  smallest  hint  of  what  was  really 
engaging  his  whole  mind.  It  was  this  discovery  that 
had  set  her  to  disregarding  his  seeming  of  colossal,  of 
fatuous  egotism,  and  had  started  her  toward  an  estimate 
of  him  wholly  different  from  the  current  estimate. 
Now,  was  he  thinking  of  their  future,  or  was  it  some 
other  matter  that  occupied  his  real  mind  while  he  talked 
on  and  on,  usually  of  himself?  She  could  not  tell;  she 
hoped  it  was,  but  she  dared  not  try  to  find  out. 

They  were  at  their  mail,  which  one  of  the  guides  had 
just  brought.  He  interrupted  his  reading  to  burst  out: 
"  How  they  do  tempt  a  man  !  Now,  there's  " —  and  he 
struck  the  open  letter  in  his  hand  with  a  flourishing,  ego 
tistic  gesture  — "  an  offer  from  the  General  Steel  Com 
pany.  They  want  me  as  their  chief  counsel  at  fifty 
thousand  a  year  and  the  privilege  of  doing  other  work 
that  doesn't  conflict." 

Fifty  thousand  a  year!  Margaret  discreetly  veiled 
her  glistening  eyes. 

"  It's  the  fourth  offer  of  the  same  sort,"  he  went  on, 
"  since  we've  been  up  here  —  since  it  was  given  out 
that  I'd  be  Attorney-General  as  soon  as  old  Stillwater 
retires.  The  people  pay  me  seventy-five  hundred  a  year. 

322 


GETTING  ACQUAINTED 

• 

They  take  all  my  time.  They  make  it  impossible  for 
me  to  do  anything  outside.  They  watch  and  suspect 
and  grumble.  And  I  could  be  making  my  two  hundred 
thousand  a  year  or  more." 

He  was  rattling  on  complacently,  patting  himself  on 
the  back,  and,  in  his  effort  to  pose  as  a  marvel  of 
patriotic  self-sacrifice,  carefully  avoiding  any  sugges 
tion  that  mere  money  seemed  to  him  a  very  poor  thing 
beside  the  honor  of  high  office,  the  direction  of  great 
affairs,  the  flattering  columns  of  newspaper  praise  and 
censure,  the  general  agitation  of  eighty  millions  over 
him.  "  Sometimes  I'm  almost  tempted  to  drop  politics,'* 
he  went  on,  "  and  go  in  for  the  spoils.  What  do  you 
think?" 

She  was  taken  completely  off  guard.  She  hadn't  the 
faintest  notion  that  this  was  his  way  of  getting  at  her 
real  mind.  But  she  was  too  feminine  to  walk  straight 
into  the  trap.  "  I  don't  know,"  said  she,  with  well- 
simulated  indifference,  as  if  her  mind  were  more  than 
half  on  her  own  letter.  "  I  haven't  given  the  matter 
any  thought."  Carelessly :  "  Where  would  we  live  if 
you  accepted  this  offer?  " 

"  New  York,  of  course.  You  prefer  Washington, 
don't  you?" 

"  No,  I  believe  I'd  like  New  York  better.  I're  a 
323 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

i 

great  many  friends  there.  While  there  isn't  such  a 
variety  of  people,  the  really  nice  New  Yorkers  are  the 
most  attractive  people  in  America.  And  one  can  live  so 
well  in  New  York." 

"  I'd  sink  into  a  forgotten  obscurity,"  pursued  the 
crafty  Joshua.  "  I'd  be  nothing  but  a  corporation 
lawyer,  a  well-paid  fetch-and-carry  for  the  rich  thieves 
that  huddle  together  there." 

"  Oh,  you'd  be  famous  wherever  you  are,  I'm  sure," 
replied  she  with  judicious  enthusiasm.  "  Besides,  you'd 
have  fame  with  the  real  people." 

His  head  reared  significantly.  But,  to  draw  her  on, 
he  said:  "That's  true.  That's  true,"  as  if  reflecting 
favorably. 

"  Yes,  I  think  I'd  like  New  York,"  continued  she,  all 
unsuspicious.  "  I  don't  care  much  for  politics.  I  hate 
to  think  of  a  man  of  your  abilities  at  the  mercy  of  the 
mob.  In  New  York  you  could  make  a  really  great 
career." 

"  Get  rich  —  be  right  in  the  social  swim  —  and  you, 
too,"  suggested  he. 

"  It  certainly  is  very  satisfactory  to  feel  one  is  of  the 
best  people.  And  I'm  sure  you'd  not  care  to  have  me 
mix  up  with  all  sorts,  as  politicians'  wives  have  to  do." 

He  laughed  at  her  —  the  loud,  coarse  Josh  Craig 
324 


GETTING   ACQUAINTED 

outburst.  "  You're  stark  mad  on  the  subject  of  class 
distinctions,  aren't  you?"  said  he.  "You'll  learn  some 
day  to  look  on  that  sort  of  thing  as  you  would  on  an  at 
tempt  to  shovel  highways  and  set  up  sign-posts  in  the 
open  sea.  Your  kind  of  people  are  like  the  children 
that  build  forts  out  of  sand  at  the  seashore.  Along 
comes  a  wave  and  washes  it  all  away.  .  .  .  You'd 
be  willing  for  me  to  abandon  my  career  and  become  a 
rich  nonentity  in  New  York  ?  " 

His  tone  was  distinctly  offensive.  "  I  don't  look  at 
it  in  that  way,"  said  she  coldly.  "  Really,  I  care 
nothing  about  it."  And  she  resumed  the  reading  of  her 
letter. 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  believe,"  demanded  he,  excited 
and  angry  — "  do  you  expect  me  to  believe  you've  not 
given  the  subject  of  our  future  a  thought?  " 

She  continued  reading.  Such  a  question  in  such  a 
tone  called  for  the  rebuke  of  an  ignoring  silence.  Also, 
deep  down  in  her  nature,  down  where  the  rock  founda 
tions  of  courage  should  have  been  but  were  not,  there 
had  begun  an  ominous  trembling. 

"  You  know  what  my  salary  is  ?  " 

"  You  just  mentioned  it." 

"  You  know  it's  to  be  only  five  hundred  dollars  a  year 
more  after  January  ?  " 

325 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  I  knew  the  Cabinet  people  got  eight  thousand." 
She  was  gazing  dreamily  out  toward  the  purple  ho 
rizon,  seemed  as  far  as  its  mountains  from  worldli- 
ness. 

"  Hadn't  you  thought  out  how  we  were  to  live  on  that 
sum?  You  are  aware  I've  practically  nothing  but  my 
salary." 

"  I  suppose  I  ought  to  think  of  those  things  —  ought 
to  have  thought  of  them,"  replied  she  with  a  vague, 
faint  smile.  "  But  really  —  well,  we've  been  brought 
up  rather  carelessly  —  I  suppose  some  people  would  call 
it  badly  —  and — " 

"  You  take  me  for  a  fool,  don't  you  ?  "  he  interrupted 
roughly. 

She  elevated  her  eyebrows. 

"  I  wish  I  had  a  quarter  for  every  row  between  youi 
people  and  your  grandmother  on  the  subject  of  money. 
I  wish  I  had  a  dollar  for  every  row  you  and  she  have 
had  about  it." 

He  again  vented  his  boisterous  laugh ;  her  nerves  had 
not  been  so  rasped  since  her  wedding  day.  "  Come, 
Margaret,"  he  went  on,  "  I  know  you've  been  brought 
up  differently  from  me.  I  know  I  seem  vulgar  to  you 
in  many  ways.  But  because  I  show  you  I  appreciate 
those  differences,  don't  imagine  I'm  an  utter  ass.  And 

326 


GETTING   ACQUAINTED 

I  certainly  should  be  if  I  didn't  know  that  your  people 
are  human  beings." 

She  looked  guilty  as  well  as  angry  now.  She  felt 
she  had  gone  just  the  one  short  step  too  far  in  her 
aristocratic  assumptions. 

He  went  on  in  the  tone  of  one  who  confidently  expects 
that  there  will  be  no  more  nonsense :  "  When  you  mar 
ried  me  you  had  some  sort  of  idea  how  we'd  live." 

"  I  assumed  you  had  thought  out  those  things  or 
you'd  not  have  married  me,"  cried  she  hotly.  In  spite 
of  her  warnings  to  herself  she  couldn't  keep  cool.  His 
manner,  his  words  were  so  inflammatory  that  she  could 
not  hold  herself  from  jumping  into  the  mud  to  do  battle 
with  him.  She  abandoned  her  one  advantage  —  high 
ground ;  she  descended  to  his  level.  "  You  knew  the 
sort  of  woman  I  was,"  she  pursued.  "  You  undertook 
the  responsibility.  I  assume  you  are  man  enough  to  ful 
fill  it." 

He  felt  quite  at  home  with  her  now.  "  And  you  ?  " 
rasped  he.  "  What  responsibility  did  you  under 
take?" 

She  caught  her  breath,  flamed  scarlet. 

"  Now  let  us  hear  what  wife  means  in  the  dictionary 
of  a  lady.  Come,  let's  hear  it ! " 

She  was  silent. 

327 


"  I'm  not  criticising,"  he  went  on ;  "  I'm  simply  in 
quiring.  What  do  you  think  it  means  to  be  a  wife?  " 

Still  she  could  think  of  no  answer. 

"  It  must  mean  something,"  urged  he.  **  Tell  me. 
I've  got  to  learn  some  time,  haven't  I?  " 

"  I  think,"  said  she,  with  a  tranquil  haughtiness 
which  she  hoped  would  carry  off  the  weakness  of  the 
only  reply  she  could  get  together  on  such  short  notice, 
"  among  our  sort  of  people  the  wife  is  expected  to  at 
tend  to  the  social  part  of  the  life." 

He  waited  for  more  —  waited  with  an  expression  that 
suggested  thirst.  But  no  more  came.  "  Is  that  all?  " 
he  inquired,  and  waited  again  —  in  vain.  "  Yes  ? 
.  .  .  Well,  tell  me,  where  in  thunder  does  the  hus 
band  come  in?  He  puts  up  the  cash  for  the  wife  to 
spend  in  dressing  and  amusing  herself  —  is  that  all?" 

"  It  is  generally  assumed,"  said  she,  since  she  had  to 
say  something  or  let  the  case  go  against  her  by  default, 
"  that  the  social  side  of  life  can  be  very  useful  in 
furthering  a  man." 

He  vented  a  scornful  sound  that  was  like  a  hoot. 
"  In  furthering  a 'lick-spittle  —  yes.  But  not  a  man!  " 

"  Our  ideas  on  some  subjects  are  hopelessly  apart." 
She   suddenly   realized   that   this    whole   conversation 
had  been  deliberately  planned  by  him;  that  he  had,  in- 

328 


GETTING   ACQUAINTED 

deed,  been  debating  within  himself  their  future  life,  and 
that  he  had  decided  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  frank 
talk  with  her.  It  angered  her  that  she  had  not  realized 
this  sooner,  that  she  had  been  drawn  from  her  position, 
had  been  forced  to  discuss  with  him  on  his  own  terms 
and  at  his  own  time  and  in  his  own  manner.  She  felt 
all  the  fiery  indignation  of  the  schemer  who  has  been 
outwitted. 

"  Your  tone,"  said  she,  all  ice,  "  makes  it  impossible 
for  a  well-bred  person  to  discuss  with  you.  Let  us  talk 
of  something  else,  or  of  nothing  at  all." 

"  No.  Let's  thresh  it  out  now  that  we've  begun.  And 
do  try  to  keep  your  temper.  There's  no  reason  for 
anger.  We've  got  to  go  back  to  civilization.  We've 
got  to  live  after  we  get  there.  We  want  to  live  com 
fortably,  as  satisfactorily  for  both  as  our  income  per 
mits.  Now,  what  shall  we  do?  How  shall  we  invest 
our  eight  thousand  a  year  —  and  whatever  your  grand 
mother  allows  you?  I  don't  need  much.  I'll  turn  the 
salary  over  to  you.  You're  entirely  welcome  to  all 
there  is  above  my  board  and  clothes." 

This  sounded  generous  and,  so,  irritated  Margaret 
the  more.  "  You  know  very  well  we  can't  live  like 
decent  people  on  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  a  year  in 
Washington." 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  You  knew  that  before  you  married  me.  What  did 
you  have  in  mind?  " 

Silence. 

"  Why  do  you  find  it  difficult  to  be  frank  with  me?  " 

His  courteous,  appealing  tone  and  manner  made  it 
impossible  to  indulge  in  the  lie  direct  or  the  lie  evasive. 
She  continued  silent,  raging  inwardly  against  him  for 
being  so  ungenerous,  so  ungentlemanly  as  to  put  her  in 
such  a  pitiful  posture,  one  vastly  different  from  that  she 
had  prearranged  for  herself  when  "  the  proper  time  " 
came. 

"  You  had  something  in  mind,"  he  persisted.  "  What 
is  it?  " 

"  Grandmother  wishes  us  to  live  with  her,"  she  said 
with  intent  to  flank. 

"  Would  you  like  that  ?  "  he  inquired ;  and  her  very 
heart  seemed  to  stand  still  in  horror  at  his  tone.  It  was 
a  tone  that  suggested  that  the  idea  was  attractive! 

She  debated.  He  must  be  "  bluffing  " —  he  surely 
must.  She  rallied  her  courage  and  pushed  on :  "  It's 
probably  the  best  we  can  do  in  the  circumstances.  We'd 
have  almost  nothing  left  after  we'd  paid  our  rent  if  we 
set  up  for  ourselves.  Even  if  I  were  content  to  pinch 
and  look  a  frump  and  never  go  out,  you'd  not  tolerate 
it." 

330 


GETTING   ACQUAINTED 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  galling,"  said  he,  after 
reflecting,  "  than  what  people  would  say  if  we  lived  off 
your  grandmother.  No,  going  there  is  unthinkable. 
I  like  her,  and  we'd  get  on  well  together  — " 

Margaret  laughed.  "  Like  two  cats  drowning  in  a 
bag." 

"  Not  at  all,"  protested  he  sincerely.  "  Your  grand 
mother  and  I  understand  each  other  —  better  than  you 
and  I  —  at  least,  better  than  you  understand  me.  How 
ever,  I'll  not  permit  our  being  dependents  of  hers." 

Margaret  had  a  queer  look.  Was  not  her  taking 
enough  money  from  the  old  lady  to  pay  all  her  personal 
expenses  —  was  not  that  dependence  ? 

"  We'll  return  to  that  later,"  continued  he,  and  she 
had  an  uncomfortable  sense  that  he  was  answering  her 
thought.  "  To  go  back  to  your  idea  in  marrying  me. 
You  expected  me  to  leave  politics." 

"  Why  do  you  think  that  ?  "  exclaimed  she. 

"  You  told  me." 

"//" 

"  You,  yourself.  Have  you  not  said  you  could  not 
live  on  what  I  get  as  a  public  man,  and  that  if  I  were  a 
gentleman  I'd  not  expect  you  to  ?  " 

Margaret  stared  foolishly  at  this  unescapable  infer 
ence  from  her  own  statements  and  admissions  during  his 

331 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

cross-examination.  She  began  to  feel  helpless  in  his 
hands  —  and  began  to  respect  him  whom  she  could  not 
fool. 

"  I  know,"  he  went  on,  "  you're  too  intelligent  not  to 
have  appreciated  that  either  we  must  live  on  my  salary 
or  I  must  leave  public  life." 

He  laughed  —  a  quiet,  amused  laugh,  different  from 
any  she  had  ever  heard  from  him.  Evidently,  Joshua 
Craig  in  intimacy  was  still  another  person  from  the  sev 
eral  Joshua  Craigs  she  already  knew.  "  And,"  said  he, 
in  explanation  of  his  laughter,  "  I  thought  you  married 
me  because  I  had  political  prospects.  I  fancied  you  had 
real  ambition.  ...  I  might  have  known  !  Accord 
ing  to  the  people  of  your  set,  to  be  in  that  set  is  to  have 
achieved  the  summit  of  earthly  ambition  —  to  dress,  to 
roll  about  in  carriages,  to  go  from  one  fussy  house 
to  another,  from  one  showy  entertainment  to  another, 
to  eat  stupid  dinners,  and  caper  or  match  picture  cards 
afterward,  to  grin  and  chatter,  to  do  nothing  useful  or 
even  interesting  — '  He  laughed  again,  one  of  his  old- 
time,  boisterous  outbursts.  But  it  seemed  to  her  to  fit 
in,  to  be  the  laughter  of  mountain  and  forest  and  in 
finity  of  space  at  her  and  her  silly  friends.  "  And  you 
picture  me  taking  permanent  part  in  that  show,  or  toil 
ing  to  find  you  the  money  to  do  it  with.  Me!  .  .  . 

332 


GETTING   ACQUAINTED 

Merely  because  I've  been,  for  a  moment,  somewhat  be 
dazzled  by  its  cheap  glitter." 

Margaret  felt  that  he  had  torn  off  the  mask  and  had 
revealed  his  true  self.  But  greater  than  her  interest  in 
this  new  personality  was  her  anger  at  having  been  de 
ceived  —  self-deceived.  "  You  asked  me  how  I'd  like 
to  live,"  cried  she,  color  high  and  eyes  filled  with  tears 
of  rage.  "  I  answered  your  question,  and  you  grow 
insulting." 

"  I'm  doing  the  best  I  know  how,"  said  he. 

After  a  moment  she  got  herself  under  control. 
"  Then,"  asked  she,  "  what  have  you  to  propose?  " 

"  I  can't  tell  you  just  now,"  replied  he,  and  his  man 
ner  was  most  disquieting.  "  To-morrow  —  or  next 
day." 

"  Don't  you  think  I'm  right  about  it  being  humil 
iating  for  us  to  go  back  to  Washington  and  live 
poorly  ?  " 

"  Undoubtedly.  I've  felt  that  from  the  begin 
ning." 

"  Then  you  agree  with  me?  " 

"  Not  altogether,"  said  he.  And  there  was  a  quiet 
sternness  in  his  smile,  in  his  gentle  tone,  that  increased 
her  alarms.  "  I've  been  hoping,  rather,"  continued  he, 
"  that  you'd  take  an  interest  in  my  career." 

333 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

**  I  do,"  cried  she. 

"  Not  in  my  career,"  replied  he,  those  powerful,  hewn 
features  of  his  sad  and  bitter.  "  In  your  own  —  in  a 
career  in  which  I'd  become  as  contemptible  as  the  rest 
of  the  men  you  know  —  a  poor  thing  like  Grant  Ark- 
wright.  Worse,  for  I'd  do  very  badly  what  he  has 
learned  to  do  well." 

"  To  be  a  well-bred,  well-mannered  gentleman  is  no 
small  achievement,"  said  she  with  a  sweetness  that  was 
designed  to  turn  to  gall  after  it  reached  him. 

He  surveyed  her  tranquilly.  She  remembered  that 
look ;  it  was  the  same  he  had  had  the  morning  he  met  her 
at  the  Waldorf  elevator  and  took  her  away  and  married 
her.  She  knew  that  the  crisis  had  come  and  that  he  was 
ready.  And  she?  Never  had  she  felt  less  capable,  less 
resolute. 

"  I've  been  doing  a  good  deal  of  thinking  —  thinking 
about  us  —  these  last  few  days  —  since  I  inflicted  that 
scratch  on  you,"  said  he.  "  Among  other  things,  I've 
concluded  you  know  as  little  about  what  constitutes  a 
real  gentleman  as  I  do ;  also,  that  you  have  no  idea  what 
it  is  in  you  that  makes  you  a  lady  —  so  far  as  you  are 
one." 

She  glanced  at  him  in  fright,  and  that  expression  of 
hers  betrayed  the  fundamental  weakness  in  her  —  the 


GETTING   ACQUAINTED 

weakness  that  underlies  all  character  based  upon  the 
achievements  of  others,  not  upon  one's  own.  Margaret 
was  three  generations  away  from  self-reliance.  Craig's 
speech  sounded  like  a  deliberate  insult,  deliberate  attempt 
to  precipitate  a  quarrel,  an  estrangement.  There  had 
been  nothing  in  her  training  to  prepare  her  for  such  a 
rude,  courage-testing  event  as  that. 

"  Do  you  remember  —  it  was  the  day  we  married  — 
the  talk  we  had  about  my  relatives  ?  " 

She  colored,  was  painfully  embarrassed,  strove  in  vain 
to  conceal  it.  "  About  your  relatives  ?  "  she  said  in 
quiringly. 

He  made  an  impatient  gesture.  "  I  know  you  re 
member.  Well,  if  I  had  been  a  gentleman,  or  had  known 
what  gentleman  meant,  I'd  never  have  said  —  or,  rather, 
looked  what  I  did  then.  If  you  had  known  what  a  gen 
tleman  is,  if  you  had  been  a  lady,  you'd  have  been  un 
able  to  go  on  with  a  man  who  had  shown  himself  such 
a  blackguard." 

"  You  are  unjust  to  us  both,"  she  eagerly  inter 
rupted.  "  Joshua  —  you  — " 

"  Don't  try  to  excuse  me  —  or  yourself,"  said  he  per 
emptorily.  "  Now,  you  thought  what  I  showed  that 
day  —  my  being  ashamed  of  honester,  straighter  — 
more  American  —  people  than  you  or  I  will  ever  be  — 

335 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

you  thought  that  was  the  real  me.  Thank  God,  it 
wasn't.  But " —  he  pointed  a  fascinating  forefinger 
at  her  — "  it  was  the  me  I'd  be  if  you  had  your 
way." 

She  could  not  meet  his  eyes. 

"  I  see  you  understand,"  said  he  earnestly.  "  That's 
a  good  sign." 

"  Yes,  I  do  understand,"  said  she.  Her  voice  was  low 
and  her  head  was  still  hanging.  "  I'm  glad  you've  said 
this.  I  —  I  respect  you  for  it." 

"  Don't  fret  about  me,"  said  he  curtly.  "  Fret  about 
your  own  melancholy  case.  What  do  your  impulses  of 
decent  feeling  amount  to,  anyway?  An  inch  below  the 
surface  you're  all  for  the  other  sort  of  thing  —  the 
cheap  and  nasty.  If  you  could  choose  this  minute  you'd 
take  the  poorest  of  those  drawing-room  marionettes  be 
fore  the  finest  real  man,  if  he  didn't  know  how  to  wear 
his  clothes  or  had  trouble  with  his  grammar." 

She  felt  that  there  was  more  than  a  grain  of  truth  in 
this ;  at  any  rate,  denial  would  be  useless,  as  his  tone  was 
the  tone  of  settled  conviction. 

"  We've  made  a  false  start,"  proceeded  he.  He  rose, 
lighted  a  cigarette.  "  We're  going  to  start  all  over 
again.  I'll  tell  you  what  I'm  going  to  do  about  it  in 
a  day  or  two." 

336 


GETTING   ACQUAINTED 

And  he  strolled  away  to  the  landing.  She  saw 
him  presently  enter  a  canoe;  under  his  powerful,  easy 
stroke  it  shot  away,  to  disappear  behind  the  head 
land.  She  felt  horribly  lonely  and  oppressed  —  as 
if  she  would  never  see  him  again.  "  He's  quite 
capable  of  leaving  me  here  to  find  my  way  back  to 
Washington  alone  —  quite  capable !  "  And  her  lip 
curled. 

But  the  scorn  was  all  upon  the  surface.  Beneath 
there  was  fear  and  respect  —  the  fear  and  respect  which 
those  demoralized  by  unearned  luxury  and  by  the  pur 
poseless  life  always  feel  when  faced  by  strength  and 
self-reliance  in  the  crises  where  externals  avail  no  more 
than  its  paint  and  its  bunting  a  warship  in  battle.  She 
knew  she  had  been  treating  him  as  no  self-respecting 
man  who  knew  the  world  would  permit  any  woman  to 
treat  him.  She  knew  her  self-respect  should  have  kept 
her  from  treating  him  thus,  even  if  he,  in  his  ignorance 
of  her  world  and  awe  of  it,  would  permit.  But  more 
than  from  shame  at  vain  self-abasement  her  chagrin 
came  from  the  sense  of  having  played  her  game  so  con 
fidently,  so  carelessly,  so  stupidly  that  he  had  seen  it. 
She  winced  as  she  recalled  how  shrewdly  and  swiftly  he 
had  got  to  the  very  bottom  of  her,  especially  of  her 
selfishness  in  planning  to  use  him  with  no  thought  for 

337 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

his  good.  Yet  so  many  women  thus  used  their  husbands ; 
why  not  she?  "  I  suppose  I  began  too  soon.  .  .  . 
No,  not  too  soon,  but  too  frigidly."  The  word  seemed 
to  her  to  illuminate  the  whole  situation.  "  That's  it !  " 
she  cried.  "  How  stupid  of  me !  " 


338 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

WHAT    THE    MOON    SAW    AND    DID 

Physical  condition  is  no  doubt  the  dominant  factor 
in  human  thought  and  action.  State  of  soul  is,  as  Doc 
tor  Schulze  has  observed,  simply  the  egotistic  human 
vanity  for  state  of  body.  If  the  health  of  the  human 
race  were  better,  if  sickness,  the  latent  and  the  revealed 
together,  were  not  all  but  universal,  human  relations 
would  be  wonderfully  softened,  sweetened  and  simplified. 
Indigestion,  with  its  various  ramifications,  is  alone  re 
sponsible  for  most  of  the  crimes,  catastrophes  and  cruel 
ties,  public  and  private  discord;  for  it  tinges  human 
thought  and  vision  with  pessimistic  black  or  bloody  red 
or  envious  green  or  degenerate  yellow  instead  of  the 
normal,  serene  and  invigorating  white.  All  the  world's 
great  public  disturbers  have  been  diseased.  As  for 
private  life,  its  bad  of  all  degrees  could,  as  to  its  deep- 
lying,  originating  causes,  be  better  diagnosed  by  phy 
sician  than  by  psychologist. 

Margaret,  being  in  perfect  physical  condition,  was 
deeply  depressed  for  only  a  short  time  after  the  im- 

339 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

mediate  cause  of  her  mood  ceased  to  be  active.  An  hour 
after  Joshua  had  revealed  himself  in  thunder  and  light 
ning,  and  had  gone,  she  was  almost  serene  again,  her 
hopefulness  of  healthy  youth  and  her  sense  of  humor 
in  the  ascendent.  Their  stay  in  the  woods  was  drawing 
to  an  end.  Soon  they  would  be  off  for  Lenox,  for  her 
Uncle  Dan's,  where  there  would  be  many  people  about 
and  ,small,  perhaps  no,  opportunity  for  direct  and  quick 
action  and  result.  She  reviewed  her  conduct  and  felt 
that  she  had  no  reason  to  reproach  herself  for  not  hav 
ing  made  an  earlier  beginning  in  what  she  now  saw 
should  have  been  her  tactics  with  her  "  wild  man."  How 
could  she,  inexpert,  foresee  what  Avas  mockingly  obvious 
to  hindsight?  Only  by  experiment  and  failure  is  the 
art  of  success  learned.  Her  original  plan  had  been  the 
best  possible,  taking  into  account  her  lack  of  knowledge 
of  male  nature  and  the  very  misleading  indications  of 
his  real  character  she  had  got  from  him.  In  her  position 
would  not  almost  any  one  have  decided  that  the  right 
way  to  move  him  was  by  holding  him  at  respectful  dis 
tance  and  by  indirect  talk,  with  the  inevitable  drift  of 
events  doing  the  principal  work  —  gradually  awaken 
ing  him  to  the  responsibilities  and  privileges  which  his 
entry  into  a  higher  social  station  implied? 

But  no  time  must  now  be  lost;  the  new  way,  which 
340 


WHAT   THE   MOON  SAW  AND   DID 

experience  had  revealed,  must  be  taken  forthwith  and 
traveled  by  forced  marches.  Before  they  left  the  woods 
she  must  have  led  him  through  all  the  gradations  of 
domestic  climate  .between  their  present  frosty  if  kindly 
winter,  and  summer,  or,  at  least,  a  very  balmy  spring. 
From  what  she  knew  of  his  temperament  she  guessed 
that  once  she  began  to  thaw  he  would  forthwith  whirl 
her  into  July.  She  must  be  prepared  to  accept  that, 
however  —  repellent  though  the  thought  was  —  she  as 
sured  herself  it  was  most  repellent.  She  prided  her 
self  on  her  skill  at  catching  and  checking  herself  in 
self-deception ;  but  it  somehow  did  not  occur  to  her  to 
contrast  her  rather  listless  previous  planning  with  the 
energy  and  interest  she  at  once  put  into  this  project  for 
supreme  martyrdom,  as  'she  regarded  it. 

When  he  came  back  that  evening  she  was  ready.  But 
not  he;  he  stalked  in,  sulking  and  blustering,  tired, 
ignoring  her,  doing  all  the  talking  himself,  and  depart 
ing  for  bed  as  soon  as  dinner  was  over.  She  felt  as  if 
he  had  repulsed  her,  though,  in  fact,  her  overtures  were 
wholly  internal  and  could  not,  by  any  chance,  have  im 
pressed  him.  Bitter  against  him  and  dreading  the  open 
humiliation  she  would  have  to  endure  before  she  could 
make  one  so  self-absorbed  see  what  she  was  about,  she 
put  out  her  light  early,  with  intent  to  rise  when  he  did 

341 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

and  be  at  breakfast  before  he  could  finish.  She  lay 
awake  until  nearly  dawn,  then  fell  into  a  deep  sleep. 
When  she  woke  it  was  noon;  she  felt  so  greatly  re 
freshed  that  her  high  good  humor  would  not  suffer  her 
to  be  deeply  resentful  against  him  for  »this  second 
failure.  "  No  matter,"  reflected  she.  "  He  might  have 
suspected  me  if  I'd  done  anything  so  revolutionary  as 
appear  at  breakfast.  I'll  make  my  beginning  at  lunch." 

She  was  now  striving,  with  some  success,  to  think  of 
him  as  a  tyrant  whom  she,  luckless  martyr,  must  cajole. 
"  I'm  going  the  way  of  all  the  married  women,"  thought 
she.  "  They  soon  find  there's  no  honorable  way  to  get 
their  rights  from  their  masters,  find  they  simply  have  to 
degrade  themselves."  Yes,  he  was  forcing  her  to  de 
grade  herself,  to  simulate  affection  when  the  reverse  was 
in  her  heart.  Well,  she  would  make  him  pay  dearly  for 
it  —  some  day.  Meanwhile  she  must  gain  her  point. 
"  If  I  don't,  I'd  better  not  have  married.  To  be  Mrs. 
is  something,  but  not  much  if  I'm  the  creature  of  his 
whims." 

She  put  off  lunch  nearly  an  hour;  but  he  did  not 
come,  did  not  reappear  until  dinner  was  waiting.  "  I've 
been  over  to  town,"  he  explained,  "  doing  a  lot  of  tele 
graphing  that  was  necessary."  He  was  in  vast  spirits, 
delighted  with  himself,  volubly  boastful,  so  full  of 

342 


WHAT   THE   MOON  SAW  AND   DID 

animal  health  and  life  and  of  joy  in  the  prospect  of 
food  and  sleep  that  mental  worries  were  as  foreign  to 
him  as  to  the  wild  geese  flying  overhead. 

He  snuffed  the  air  in  which  the  odor  of  cooking  was 
mingled  deliciously  with  the  odor  of  the  pines.  "  If  they 
don't  hurry  up  dinner,"  said  he,  "  I'll  rush  in  and  eat 
off  the  stove.  We  used  to  at  home  sometimes.  It's 
great  fun." 

She  smiled  tolerantly.  "  I've  missed  you,"  said  she, 
and  she  was  telling  herself  that  this  statement  of  a 
literal  truth  was  the  quintessence  of  hypocritical 
cajolery.  "You  might  have  taken  me  along." 

He  gave  her  a  puzzled  look.  "  Oh,"  said  he  finally, 
"  you've  been  thinking  over  what  I  said." 

This  was  disconcerting;  but  she  contrived  to  smile 
with  winning  frankness.  "  Yes,"  replied  she.  "  I've 
been  very  wrong,  I  see."  She  felt  proud  of  the  adroit 
ness  of  this  —  an  exact  truth,  yet  wholly  misleading. 

His  expression  told  her  that  he  was  congratulating 
himself  on  his  wisdom  and  success  in  having  given  her 
a  sharp  talking  to ;  that  he  was  thinking  it  had  brought 
her  to  her  senses,  had  restored  her  respect  for  him,  had 
opened  the  way  for  her  love  for  him  to  begin  to  show 
itself  —  that  love  which  he  so  firmly  believed  in,  egotist 
that  he  was!  Could  anything  be  more  infuriating? 

343 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

Yet  —  after  all,  what  difference  did  it  make,  so  long  as 
he  yielded?  And  once  she  had  him  enthralled,  then  — 
ah,  yes  —  then!  Meanwhile  she  must  remember  that  the 
first  principle  of  successful  deception  is  self-deception, 
and  must  try  to  convince  herself  that  she  was  what  she 
was  pretending  to  be. 

Dinner  was  served,  and  he  fell  to  like  a  harvest  hand. 
As  he  had  the  habit,  when  he  was  very  hungry,  of  stuff 
ing  his  mouth  far  too  full  for  speech,  she  was  free  to 
carry  out  her  little  program  of  encouraging  talk  and 
action.  As  she  advanced  from  hesitating  compliment  to 
flattery,  to  admiring  glances,  to  lingering  look,  she 
marveled  at  her  facility.  "  I  suppose  ages  and  ages  of 
dreadful  necessity  have  made  it  second  nature  to  every 
woman,  even  the  best  of  us,"  reflected  she.  If  he  weren't 
a  handsome,  superior  man  she  might  be  finding  it  more 
difficult;  also,  no  doubt  the  surroundings,  so  romantic, 
so  fitting  as  background  for  his  ruggedness,  were  help 
ing  her  to  dexterity  and  even  enthusiasm. 

It  was  amusing,  how  she  deceived  herself  —  for  the 
harmless  self-deceptions  of  us  chronic  mummers  are 
always  amusing.  The  fact  was,  this  melting  and  in 
viting  mood  had  far  more  of  nature  and  sincerity  in  it 
than  there  had  been  in  her  icy  aloofness.  Icy  aloofness, 
except  in  the  heroines  of  aristocratic  novels,  is  a  state 

344 


WHAT   THE   MOON  SAW   AND    DID 

of  mind  compatible  only  with  extreme  stupidity  or  with 
some  one  of  those  organic  diseases  that  sour  the  dis 
position.  Never  had  she  been  in  such  health  as  in  that 
camp,  never  so  buoyant,  never  had  merely  being  alive 
been  so  deliciously  intoxicating ;  the  scratch  he  had  made 
on  her  throat  had  healed  in  twenty-four  hours,  had  all 
but  disappeared  in  seventy-two.  Never  had  she  known 
to  such  a  degree  what  a  delight  a  body  can  be,  the  sense 
of  its  eagerness  to  bring  to  the  mind  all  the  glorious 
pleasures  of  the  senses.  Whatever  disinclination  she 
had  toward  him  was  altogether  a  prompting  of  class 
education;  now  that  she  had  let  down  the  bars  and  re 
leased  feeling  she  was  in  heart  glad  he  was  there  with 
her,  glad  he  was  "  such  a  man  of  a  man." 

The  guides  made  a  huge  fire  down  by  the  shore,  and 
left  them  alone.  They  sat  by  it  until  nearly  ten  o'clock, 
he  talking  incessantly;  her  overtures  had  roused  in  him 
the  desire  to  please,  and,  instead  of  the  usual  monologue 
of  egotism  and  rant,  he  poured  out  poetry,  eloquence, 
sense  and  humorous  shrewdness.  Had  he  been  far  less 
the  unusual,  the  great  man,  she  would  still  have  listened 
with  a  sense  of  delight,  for  in  her  mood  that  night  his 
penetrating  voice,  which,  in  other  moods,  she  found  as 
insupportable  as  a  needle-pointed  goad,  harmonized 
with  the  great,  starry  sky  and  the  mysterious,  eerie 

345 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

shadows  of  forest  and  mountain  and  lake  close  round 
their  huge,  bright  fire.  As  they  rose  to  go  in,  up  came 
the  moon.  A  broad,  benevolent,  encouraging  face,  the 
face  of  a  matchmaker.  Craig  put  his  arm  round  Mar 
garet.  She  trembled  and  thrilled. 

"  Do  you  know  what  that  moon's  saying?  "  asked  he. 
In  his  voice  was  that  exquisite  tone  that  enabled  him  to 
make  even  commonplaces  lift  great  audiences  to  their 
feet  to  cheer  him  wildly. 

She  lifted  soft,  shining  eyes  to  his.  "  What?  "  she 
inquired  under  her  breath.  She  had  forgotten  her 
schemes,  her  resentments,  her  make-believe  of  every  kind. 
"  What  —  Joshua?  "  she  repeated. 

"It's  saying :  *  Hurry  up,  you  silly  children,  down 
there !  Don't  you  know  that  life  is  a  minute  and  youth 
a  second? '  And  now  both  his  arms  were  round  her 
and  one  of  her  hands  lay  upon  his  shoulder. 

"  Life  a  minute  —  youth  a  second,"  she  murmured. 

"  Do  you  think  I'd  scratch  you  horribly  if  I  kissed 
you  —  Rita?" 

She  lowered  her  eyes  but  not  her  face.  "  You  might 
try  —  Josh." 


346 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

"  OUR    HOUSE    IS    AFIRE  " 

Next  morning  she  was  up  and  in  her  dressing-room 
and  had  almost  finished  her  toilette  before  he  awakened. 
For  the  first  time  in  years  —  perhaps  the  first  time  since 
the  end  of  her  happy  girlhood  and  the  beginning  of 
her  first  season  in  Washington  society  —  she  felt  like 
singing.  Was  there  ever  such  a  dawn?  Did  ever  song 
of  birds  sound  so  like  the  voice  of  eternal  youth? 
Whence  had  come  this  air  like  the  fumes  from  the  wine 
presses  of  the  gods  ?  And  the  light !  What  colors,  what 
tints,  upon  mountain  and  valley  and  halcyon  lake !  And 
the  man  asleep  in  the  next  room  —  yes,  there  "was  a 
Joshua  Craig  whom  she  found  extremely  trying  at 
times ;  but  that  Joshua  Craig  had  somehow  resigned  the 
tenancy  of  the  strong,  straight  form  there,  had  resigned 
it  to  a  man  who  was  the  living  expression  of  all  that 
bewitched  her  in  these  wilds. 

She  laughed  softly  at  her  own  ecstasy  of  exaggera 
tion.  "  The  other  Josh  will  come  back,"  she  reminded 
herself,  "  and  I  must  not  forget  to  be  practical.  This 

347 


is  episodic."  These  happy,  superhuman  episodes  would 
come,  would  pass,  would  recur  at  intervals;  but  the 
routine  of  her  life  must  be  lived.  And  if  these  episodes 
were  to  recur  the  practical  must  not  be  neglected.  "  It's 
by  neglecting  the  practical  that  so  many  wives  come 
to  grief,"  reflected  she.  And  the  first  mandate  of  the 
practical  was  that  he  must  be  rescued  from  that  rulgar 
political  game,  which  meant  poverty  and  low  associa 
tions  and  tormenting  uncertainties.  He  must  be  got 
where  his  talents  would  have  their  due,  their  reward. 
But  subtly  guiding  him  into  the  way  that  would  be  best 
for  him  was  a  far  different  matter  from  what  she  had 
been  planning  up  to  last  night's  moonrise  —  was  as 
abysmally  separated  from  its  selfish  hypocrisy  as  love 
from  hate.  She  would  persist  in  her  purpose,  but  how 
changed  the  motive! 

She  heard  him  stirring  in  her  —  no,  their  room.  Her 
face  lighted  up,  her  eyes  sparkled.  She  ran  to  the 
mirror  for  a  final  primp  before  he  should  see  her.  She 
was  more  than  pleased  with  the  image  she  saw  reflected 
there.  "  I  never  looked  better  in  my  life  —  never  so 
well.  I'm  glad  I  kept  back  this  particular  dress.  He's 
sure  to  like  it,  and  it  certainly  is  becoming  to  me  —  the 
best-fitting  skirt  I  ever  had  —  what  good  lines  it  has 
about  the  hips."  She  startled  at  a  knock  upon  the  door. 

348 


"OUR   HOUSE   IS   AFIRE" 

She  rushed  away  from  the  mirror.  He  had  small 
physical  vanity  himself  —  she  had  never  known  any  one 
with  so  little.  He  had  shown  that  he  thought  she  had 
no  vanity  of  that  kind,  either,  and  he  would  doubtless 
misunderstand  her  solicitude  about  her  personal  appear 
ance.  Anyhow,  of  all  mornings  this  would  be  the  worst 
for  him  to  catch  her  at  the  glass. 

"Yes?"  she  called. 

"  Margaret,"  came  in  his  voice.  And,  oh,  the  differ 
ence  in  it !  —  the  note  of  tenderness  —  no,  it  was  not 
imagination,  it  was  really  there!  Her  eyes  filled  and 
her  bosom  heaved. 

"  Are  you  joining  me  at  breakfast?  " 

"  Come  in,"  cried  she. 

When  the  door  did  not  open  she  went  and  opened  it. 
There  stood  he!  If  he  had  greeted  her  with  a  triumph 
ant,  proprietorial  expression  she  would  have  been  — 
well,  it  would  have  given  her  a  lowered  opinion  of  his 
sensibility.  But  his  look  was  just  right  —  dazzled,  shy, 
happy.  Nor  did  he  make  one  of  his  impetuous  rushes. 
He  almost  timidly  took  her  hand,  kissed  it;  and  it  was 
she  who  sought  his  shoulder  —  gladly,  eagerly,  with  a 
sudden,  real  shyness.  "  Margaret,"  he  said.  "  Mine  — 
aren't  you?  " 

Here  was  Ihe  Joshua  she  was  to  know  thenceforth, 
349 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

she  felt.  This  Joshua  would  enable  her  to  understand, 
or,  rather,  to  disregard,  so  far  as  she  personally  was 
concerned,  the  Josh,  tempestuous,  abrupt,  often  absurd, 
whom  the  world  knew.  But —  As  soon  as  they  went 
where  the  guides  were,  the  familiar  Josh  returned  — 
boyish,  boisterous,  rather  foolish  in  trying  to  be  frivo 
lous  and  light.  Still  —  what  did  it  matter?  As  soon 
as  they  should  be  alone  again  — 

When  they  set  out  after  breakfast  her  Joshua  still 
did  not  return,  as  she  had  confidently  expected.  The 
obstreperous  one  remained,  the  one  that  was  the  shrewd 
ly-developed  cover  for  his  everlasting  scheming  mind. 
"  What  an  unending  ass  I've  been  making  of  myself," 
he  burst  out,  "  with  my  silly  notions."  He  drew  a  paper 
from  his  pocket  and  handed  it  to  her.  "  And  this  in 
fernal  thing  of  Grant's  has  been  encouraging  me  in 
idiocy." 

She  read  the  Arkwright  gentleman's  gazette  and  com 
plete  guide  to  dress  and  conduct  in  the  society  of  a 
refined  gentlewoman.  Her  impulse  was  to  laugh,  an  im 
pulse  hard  indeed  to  restrain  when  she  came  to  the  last 
line  of  the  document  and  read  in  Grant's  neat,  careful- 
man's  handwriting  with  heavy  underscorings :  "  Above 
all,  never  forget  that  you  are  a  mighty  stiff  dose  for 
anybody,  and  could  easily  become  an  overdose  for  a 

350 


"OUR   HOUSE   IS  AFIRE" 

refined,  sensitive  lady."  But  prudent  foresight  made 
her  keep  her  countenance.  "  This  is  all  very  sensible," 
said  she. 

"  Sensible  enough,"  assented  he.  "  I've  learned  a  lot 
from  it.  ...  Did  you  read  that  last  sentence?  " 

She  turned  her  face  away.     "  Yes,"  she  said. 

"  That,  taken  with  everything  else,  all  but  got  me 
down,"  said  he  somberly.  "  God,  what  I've  been 
through !  It  came  near  preventing  us  from  discovering 
that  you're  not  a  grand  lady  but  a  human  being."  His 
mood  veered,  and  it  was  he  that  was  gay  and  she  glum ; 
for  he  suddenly  seized  her  and  subjected  her  to  one  of 
those  tumultuous  ordeals  so  disastrous  to  toilette  and  to 
dignity  and  to  her  sense  of  personal  rights.  Not  that 
she  altogether  disliked;  she  never  had  altogether  dis 
liked,  had  found  a  certain  thrill  in  his  rude  riotousness. 
Still,  she  preferred  the  other  Joshua  Craig,  her  Joshua, 
who  wished  to  receive  as  well  as  to  give.  And  she  wished 
that  Joshua,  her  Joshua,  would  return.  She  herself  had 
thought  that,  so  far  as  she  was  concerned,  those  periods 
of  tender  and  gentle  sentiment  would  be  episodic ;  but  it 
was  another  thing  for  him  to  think  so  —  and  to  show 
it  frankly.  "  I  feel  as  if  I'd  had  an  adventure  with  a 
bear,"  said  she,  half-laughing,  half -resentful. 

"  So  you  did,"  declared  he ;  "  I'm  a  bear  —  and  every 
351 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

other  sort  of  animal  —  except  rabbit.  There's  no  rabbit 
in  me.  Now,  your  men  —  the  Grant  Arkwrights  —  are 
all  rabbit." 

"  At  least,"  said  she,  "  do  refrain  from  tearing  my 
hair  down.  A  woman  who  does  her  hair  well  hates  to 
have  it  mussed." 

"  I'll  try  to  remember,"  was  his  careless  answer.  "  As 
I  was  about  to  say,  our  discovery  that  you  are  not  a  lady 
out  of  a  story-book,  but  a  human  being  and  a  very, 
sweet  one  —  it  came  just  in  the  nick  of  time.  We're 
leaving  here  to-night." 

Now  she  saw  the  reason  for  the  persistence  of  the 
Craig  of  noise  and  bluster  —  and  craft.  "  To-night?  " 
she  exclaimed.  "  It's  impossible." 

"  Yes  —  we  go  at  five  o'clock.  Tickets  are  bought  — 
sleeper  section  engaged  —  everything  arranged." 

"  But  Uncle  Dan  doesn't  expect  us  for  four  days 
yet." 

"  I've  sent  him  a  telegram." 

"  But  I  can't  pack." 

"  Selina  can." 

"Impossible  in  such  a  little  time." 

"  Then  I'll  do  it,"  said  Craig  jovially.  "  I  can  pack 
a  trunk  twice  as  quick  as  any  man  you  ever  saw.  I  pack 
with  my  feet  as  well  as  with  my  hands." 

352 


"OUR   HOUSE   IS   AFIRE" 

"It's  impossible,"  repeated  she  angrily.  "  I  detest 
being  hurried." 

"  Hurried?  Why,  you've  got  nine  hours  to  get  used 
to  the  idea.  Nine  hours'  warning  for  anything  isn't 
haste." 

"  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  this  yesterday  ?  "  demanded 
she,  coming  to  a  full  stop  and  expecting  thus  to  compel 
him  to  face  her.  But  he  marched  on. 

"  It  has  been  my  lifelong  habit,"  declared  he  over  his 
shoulder,  "  to  arrange  everything  before  disclosing  my 
plans.  You'll  find,  as  we  get  on,  that  it  will  save  you 
a  lot  of  fretting  and  debating." 

Reluctantly  and  with  the  humiliating  sense  of  help 
less  second  fiddle  she  followed  him  along  the  rough 
path.  "  I  loathe  surprises,"  she  said. 

"  Then  adjust  your  mind  to  not  being  surprised  at 
anything  from  me." 

He  laughed  noisily  at  his  own  humor.  She  was  al 
most  hating  him  again.  He  seemed  to  have  eyes  in  the 
back  of  his  head ;  for  as  she  shot  a  fiery  glance  at  him 
he  whirled  round,  shook  his  forefinger  maddeningly  at 
her :  "  Now  listen  to  me,  my  dear,"  said  he,  in  his  very 
worst  manner,  most  aggressive,  most  dictatorial ;  "  if 
you  had  wanted  an  ordinary  sort  of  man  you  should 
have  married  one  and  not  me." 

353 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  Don't  you  think  common  courtesy  required  you  at 
least  to  consult  me  about  such  a  matter?  " 

"  I  do  not.  If  I  had  I  should  have  done  so.  I  found 
it  was  necessary  that  we  go.  I  went  ahead  and  arranged 
it.  If  you  saw  the  house  on  fire  would  you  wait  till  you 
had  consulted  me  before  putting  it  out?  " 

"  But  this  is  entirely  different." 

"  Not  at  all.  Entirely  the  same,  on  the  contrary. 
The  talk  we  had  day  before  yesterday  convinced  me  that 
our  house  is  afire.  I'm  going  to  put  it  out."  He  shut 
his  teeth  together  with  a  snap,  compressed  his  lips, 
gave  her  one  of  those  quick,  positive  nods  of  his  Viking 
head.  Then  he  caught  her  by  the  arm.  "  Now,"  said 
he  jocosely,  "  let's  go  back  to  camp.  You  want  to  do 
your  packing.  I've  got  to  go  over  to  the  station  and 
telegraph  some  more." 

She  wrenched  her  arm  away  pettishly  and,  with  sullen 
face,  accompanied  him  to  the  camp.  It  was  all  she 
could  do  to  hide  her  anger  when,  in  full  sight  of  the 
guides,  he  swept  her  up  into  his  arms  and  kissed  her 
several  times.  Possibly  she  would  have  been  really 
angered,  deeply  angered,  had  she  realized  that  these 
cyclones  were  due,  as  a  rule,  not  so  much  to  appreciation 
of  her  as  to  the  necessity  of  a  strong  counter-irritant 
to  a  sudden  attack  of  awe  of  her  as  a  fine  lady  and  doubt 

354 


"OUR   HOUSE   IS   AFIRE" 

of  his  own  ability  to  cope  with  her.  "  Good-by,  Rita," 
cried  he,  releasing  her  as  suddenly  as  he  had  seized  her 
and  rushing  toward  the  landing.  "  If  I  don't  get  back 
till  the  last  minute  be  sure  you're  ready.  Anything 
that  isn't  ready  will  be  left  behind  —  anything  or  any 
body  ! " 

The  idea  of  revolt,  of  refusing  to  go,  appealed  to 
her  first  anger  strongly.  But,  on  consideration,  she 
saw  that  merely  asserting  her  rights  would  not  be 
enough  —  that  she  must  train  him  to  respect  them.  If 
she  refused  to  go  he  would  simply  leave  her;  yes,  he 
was  just  the  man,  the  wild  man,  to  do  precisely  that 
disgraceful  thing.  And  she  would  be  horribly  afraid 
to  spend  the  night  alone  in  those  woods  with  only  the 
guides  and  Selina,  not  to  speak  of  facing  the  morrow  — 
for  he  might  refuse  to  take  her  back!  Where  would 
she  turn  in  that  case?  What  would  her  grandmother 
say  ?  Who  would  support  her  in  making  such  a  scandal 
and  giving  up  a  husband  for  reasons  that  could  not  be 
made  impressive  in  words  though  they  were  the  best  of 
all  reasons  in  terms  of  feeling?  No,  if  she  gave  him 
up  she  would  be  absolutely  alone,  condemned  on  every 
hand,  in  the  worst  possible  position.  Then,  too,  the 
break  was  unattractive  for  another  reason.  Though 
she  despised  herself  for  her  weakness,  she  did  not  wish 

355 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

to  give  up  the  man  who  had  given  her  that  brief  glimpse 
of  happiness  she  had  dreamed  as  one  dreams  an  im 
possibility.  Did  not  wish  ?  Could  not  —  would  not  — 
give  him  up.  "  I  belong  to  him !  "  she  thought  with  a 
thrill  of  ecstasy  and  of  despair. 

"  But  he'd  better  be  careful !  "  she  grumbled.  "  If  I 
should  begin  to  dislike  him  there'd  be  no  going  back." 
And  then  it  recurred  to  her  that  this  would  be  as  great 
a  calamity  of  loss  for  her  as  for  him  —  and  she  went 
at  her  packing  in  a  better  humor.  "  I'll  explain  to  him 
that  I  yield  this  once,  but — "  There  she  stopped  her 
self  with  a  laugh.  Of  what  use  to  explain  to  him  ?  — 
him  who  never  listened  to  explanations,  who  did  not  care 
a  fig  why  people  did  as  he  wished,  but  was  content  that 
they  did.  As  for  warning  him  about  "  next  time  " — 
how  ridiculous !  She  could  hear  his  penetrating,  rousing 
voice  saying:  "We'll  deal  with  'next  time'  when  it 
comes." 


356 


CHAPTER  XXV 

MRS.    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  We  change  at  Albany,"  said  he  when  they  were 
on  the  train,  after  a  last  hour  of  mad  scramble,  due  in 
part  to  her  tardiness,  in  the  main  to  the  atmosphere  of 
hysteric  hustle  and  bustle  he  created  as  a  precaution. 

"  At  Albany  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Why,  when  do  we 
get  there  ?  " 

"  At  midnight." 

"  At  midnight ! "  It  was  the  last  drop  in  the  cup  of 
gall,  she  thought.  "  Why,  we'd  get  to  Lenox,  or  to 
-some  place  where  we'd  have  to  change  again,  long  be 
fore  morning!  Josh,  you  must  be  out  of  your  senses. 
It's  a  perfect  outrage !  " 

"  Best  I  could  do,"  said  he,  laughing  uproariously 
and  patting  her  on  the  back.  "  Cheer  up.  You  can 
sleep  on  my  shoulder  until  we  get  to  Albany." 

"  We  will  go  on  to  New  York,"  said  she  stiffly,  "  and 
leave  from  there  in  the  morning." 

"  Can't  do  it,"  said  he.  "  Must  change  at  Albany. 
You  ought  to  learn  to  control  your  temper  over  these 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

little  inconveniences  of  life.  I've  brought  a  volume  of 
Emerson's  essays  along  and  I'll  read  to  you  if  you  don't 
want  to  sleep." 

"  I  hate  to  be  read  aloud  to.  Joshua,  let's  go  on 
to  New  York.  Such  a  night  of  horror  as  you've  planned 
will  wear  me  out." 

"  I  tell  you  it's  impossible.  I've  done  the  best  thing 
in  the  circumstances.  You'll  see." 

Suddenly  she  sprang  up,  looked  wildly  round. 
"  Where's  Selina  ?  "  she  gasped. 

"  Coming  to-morrow  or  next  day,"  replied  he.  "  I 
sent  her  to  the  camp  for  some  things  I  forgot." 

She  sank  back  and  said  no  more.  Again  she  was 
tempted  to  revolt  against  such  imbecile  tyranny ;  and 
again,  as  she  debated  the  situation,  the  wisdom,  the 
necessity  of  submitting  became  apparent.  How  would 
it  sound  to  have  to  explain  to  her  grandmother  that  she 
had  left  him  because  he  took  an  inconvenient  train? 
"  I'd  like  to  see  him  try  this  sort  of  thing  if  we'd  been 
married  six  months  instead  of  six  weeks,"  she  muttered. 

She  refused  to  talk  with  him,  answered  him  in  cold 
monosyllables.  And  after  dinner,  when  he  produced 
the  volume  of  Emerson  and  began  to  read  aloud,  she 
curtly  asked  him  to  be  quiet.  "  I  wish  to  sleep !  " 
snapped  she. 

358 


MRS.   JOSHUA    CRAIG 


"  Do,  dear,"  urged  he.  And  he  put  his  arm  around 
her. 

"  That's  very  uncomfortable,"  said  she,  trying  to 
draw  away. 

He  drew  her  back,  held  her  —  and  she  knew  she 
must  either  submit  or  make  a  scene.  There  was  small 
attraction  to  scene-making  with  such  a  master  of 
disgraceful  and  humiliating  scenes  as  he.  "  He 
wouldn't  care  a  rap,"  she  muttered.  "  He  simply  revels 
in  scenes,  knowing  he's  sure  to  win  out  at  them  as 
a  mongrel  in  a  fight  with  a  " —  even  in  that  trying 
moment  her  sense  of  humor  did  not  leave  her  — "  with 
a  lapdog." 

She  found  herself  comfortable  and  amazingly  con 
tent,  leaning  against  his  shoulder;  and  presently  she 
went  to  sleep,  he  holding  the  book  in  his  free  hand  and 
reading  calmly.  The  next  thing  she  knew  he  was  shak 
ing  her  gently.  "  Albany,"  he  said.  "  We've  got  to 
change  here." 

She  rose  sleepily  and  followed  him  from  the  car,  ad 
justing  her  hat  as  she  went.  She  had  thought  she  would 
be  wretched ;  instead,  she  felt  fine  as  the  sharp,  night  air 
roused  her  nerves  and  freshened  her  skin.  He  led  the 
way  into  the  empty  waiting-room ;  the  porter  piled  the 
bags  on  the  bench ;  she  seated  herself.  "  I  must  send  a 

359 


telegram,"  said  he,  and  he  went  over  to  the  window 
marked  "  Telegraph  Office."  It  was  closed.  He  knocked 
and  rattled,  and  finally  pounded  on  the  glass  with  his 
umbrella  handle. 

Her  nerves  went  all  to  pieces.  "  Can't  you  see,"  she 
called  impatiently,  "  that  there's  no  one  there?  " 

"  There  will  be  some  one ! "  he  shouted  in  reply,  and 
fell  to  pounding  so  vigorously  that  she  thought  the 
glass  would  surely  break.  But  it  did  not ;  after  a  while 
the  window  flew  up  and  an  angry  face  just  escaped  a 
blow  from  the  vibrating  umbrella  handle.  A  violent 
altercation  followed,  the  operator  raging,  but  Craig 
more  uproarious  than  he  and  having  the  further  ad 
vantage  of  a  more  extensive  and  more  picturesque 
vocabulary.  Finally  the  operator  said :  "  I  should 
think  you'd  be  ashamed  of  yourself.  Don't  you  see 
there's  a  lady  present  ?  " 

"  It's  my  wife,"  said  Craig.  "  Now  take  this  message 
and  get  it  off  at  once.  You  should  thank  me  for  not 
having  you  dismissed." 

The  operator  read  the  message.  His  face  changed 
and  he  said  in  a  surlily  apologetic  manner :  "  I'll  send 
it  off  right  away,  Mr.  Craig.  Anything  else?  " 

"  That's  all,  my  friend,"  said  Josh.  He  returned  to 
his  wife's  side.  She  was  all  confusion  and  doubt  again. 

360 


MRS.   JOSHUA    CRAIG 


Here  they  were  back  in  civilization,  and  her  man  of  the 
woods  was  straightway  running  amuck.  What  should 
she  do?  What  could  she  do?  What  had  she  got  her 
self  into  by  marrying? 

But  he  was  speaking.  "  My  dear,"  he  was  saying  in 
his  sharp,  insistent  voice,  that  at  once  aroused  and  en 
feebled  the  nerves,  "  I  must  talk  fast,  as  the  train  comes 
in  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  —  the  train  for  Chicago  — ^ 
for  Minneapolis  —  for  Wayne  —  for  home  —  our 
home." 

She  started  up  from  the  seat,  pale,  quivering,  her 
hands  clinched  against  her  bosom. 

"  For  home,"  he  repeated,  fixing  her  with  his  reso 
lute,  green-blue  eyes.  "  Please,  sit  down." 

She  sank  to  the  seat.  "  Do  you  mean  — "  she  began, 
but  her  faltering  voice  could  not  go  on. 

"  I've  resigned  from  office,"  said  he,  swift  and  calm. 
"  I've  told  the  President  I'll  not  take  the  Attorney- 
Generalship.  I've  telegraphed  your  people  at  Lenox 
that  we're  not  coming.  And  I'm  going  home  to  run  for 
Governor.  My  telegrams  assure  me  the  nomination* 
and,  with  the  hold  I've  got  on  the  people,  that  means 
election,  sure  pop.  I  make  my  first  speech  day  after 
to-morrow  afternoon  —  with  you  on  the  platform  be 
side  me." 

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ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  she  said  in  a  cold,  hard  voice. 
"You—" 

"  Now  don't  speak  till  you've  thought,  and  don't 
think  till  I  finish.  As  you  yourself  said,  Washington's 
no  place  for  us  —  at  present.  Anyhow,  the  way  to  get 
there  right  is  to  be  sent  there  from  the  people  —  by 
the  people.  You  are  the  wife  of  a  public  man,  but 
you've  had  no  training." 

"  I  — "  she  began. 

"  Hear  me  first,"  he  said,  between  entreaty  and  com 
mand.  "  You  think  I'm  the  one  that's  got  it  all  to 
learn.  Think  again.  The  little  tiddledywinks  business 
that  I've  got  to  learn  —  all  the  value  there  is  in  the  mass 
of  balderdash  about  manners  and  dress  —  I  can  learn  it 
in  a  few  lessons.  You  can  teach  it  to  me  in  no  time. 
But  what  you've  got  to  learn  —  how  to  be  a  wife,  how 
to  live  on  a  modest  income,  how  to  take  care  of  me,  and 
help  me  in  my  career,  how  to  be  a  woman  instead  of, 
largely,  a  dressmaker's  or  a  dancing-master's  expression 
for  lady -likeness  —  to  learn  all  that  is  going  to  take 
time.  And  we  must  begin  at  once ;  for,  as  I  told  you, 
the  house  is  afire." 

She  opened  her  lips  to  speak. 

"  No  —  not  yet,"  said  he.  "  One  thing  more.  You've 
been  thinking  things  about  me.  Well,  do  you  imagine 

362 


MRS.    JOSHUA    CRAIG 


this  busy  brain  of  mine  hasn't  been  thinking  a  few 
things  about  you?  Why,  Margaret,  you  need  me  even 
more  than  I  need  you,  though  I  need  you  more  than  I'd 
dare  try  to  tell  you.  You  need  just  such  a  man  as  me 
to  give  you  direction  and  purpose  —  real  backbone. 
Primping  and  preening  in  carriages  and  parlors  —  that 
isn't  life.  It's  the  frosting  on  the  cake.  Now,  you  and 
I,  we're  going  to  have  the  cake  itself.  Maybe  with, 
maybe  without  the  frosting.  But  not  the  frosting  with 
out  the  cake,  Margaret!  " 

"  So ! "  she  exclaimed,  drawing  a  long  breath  when 
he  had  ended.  "  So !  This  is  why  you  chose  that  five 
o'clock  train  and  sent  Selina  back.  You  thought  to  — " 

He  laughed  as  if  echoing  delight  from  her ;  he  patted 
her  enthusiastically  on  the  knee.  "  You've  guessed  it ! 
Go  up  head !  I  didn't  want  you  to  have  time  to  say  and 
do  foolish  things." 

She  bit  her  lip  till  the  blood  came.  Ringing  in  her 
ears  and  defying  her  efforts  to  silence  them  were  those 
words  of  his  about  the  cake  and  the  frosting  — "  the 
cake,  maybe  with,  maybe  without  frosting;  but  not  the 
frosting  without  the  cake!  "  She  started  to  speak ;  but 
it  was  no  interruption  from  him  that  checked  her,  for 
he  sat  silent,  looking  at  her  with  all  his  fiery  strength 
of  soul  in  his  magnetic  eyes.  Again  she  started  to 

363 


ADVENTURES    OF    JOSHUA    CRAIG 

speak ;  and  a  third  time ;  and  each  time  checked  herself. 
This  impossible  man,  this  creator  of  impossible  situa 
tions  !  She  did  not  know  how  to  begin,  or  how  to  go  on 
after  she  should  have  begun.  She  felt  that  even  if  she 
had  known  what  to  say  she  would  probably  lack  the 
courage  to  say  it  —  that  final-test  courage  which  only 
the  trained  in  self-reliance  have.  The  door  opened.  A 
station  attendant  came  in  out  of  the  frosty  night  and 
shouted : 

"  Chicago  Express !  Express  for  —  Buffalo !  Chi 
cago  !  Minneapolis !  St.  Paul !  —  the  Northwest !  — 
the  Far  West !  All  —  a  —  board!  " 

Craig  seized  the  handbags.  "  Come  on,  my  dear ! " 
he  cried,  getting  into  rapid  motion. 

She  sat  still. 

He  was  at  the  door.    "  Come  on,"  he  said. 

She  looked  appealingly,  helplessly  round  that  empty, 
lonely,  strange  station,  its  lights  dim,  its  suggestions  all 
inhospitable.  "  He  has  me  at  his  mercy,"  she  said  to 
herself,  between  anger  and  despair.  "  How  can  I  re 
fuse  to  go  without  becoming  the  laughing-stock  of  the 
whole  world  ?  " 

"  Come  on  —  Rita !  "  he  cried.  The  voice  was  ag 
gressive,  but  his  face  was  deathly  pale  and  the  look  out 
of  his  eyes  was  the  call  of  a  great  loneliness.  And  she 

364 


"  '  Come  on,'  he  said." 


MRS.   JOSHUA    CRAIG 


saw  it  and  felt  it.  She  braced  herself  against  it;  but 
a  sob  surged  up  in  her  throat  —  the  answer  of  her  heart 
to  his  heart's  cry  of  loneliness  and  love. 

"  Chicago  Express !  "  came  in  the  train-caller's  warn 
ing  roar  from  behind  her,  as  if  the  room  were  crowded 
instead  of  tenanted  by  those  two  only.  "  All  aboard ! 
Hurry  up,  lady,  or  you'll  get  left ! " 

Get  left !  .  .  .  Left !  —  the  explosion  of  that 
hoarse,  ominous  voice  seemed  to  blow  Mrs.  Joshua  Craig 
from  the  seat,  to  sweep  her  out  through  the  door  her 
husband  was  holding  open,  and  into  the  train  for  their 
home. 

THE    END 


365 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY 


DAVID  GMHAM  PHILLIPS 


HE  extraordinary  position  which  David  Graham 
Phillips'  novels  have  taken  in  the  community 
has  its  cause  and  reason. 

Mr.  Phillips  is  an  Indiana  man  in  the  early 
forties.  He  graduated  from  De  Pauw  University  and 
then  from  Princeton.  He  has  had  a  career  giving  him 
unusual  opportunities  to  observe  the  life  of  all  kinds  of 
people,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  town  and  country, 
here  and  abroad.  As  he  watched  the  straggle  of  human 
ity  to  live — the  concealment  and  subterfuge,  the  extraor 
dinary  mixture  of  good  and  bad  in  everyone — all  the 
conflict  in  the  jungle  which  we  call  life  impressed  itself 


OTHER   BOOKS   BY  MR.   PHILLIPS 

on  him,  and  he  gradually  found  that  fiction — the  novel 
— was  presenting  to  him  the  best  medium  for  him  to 
express  to  everyone  what  he  had  found  in  his  work  so 
far.  The  result  has  been  that  in  the  last  few  years  Mr. 
Phillips  has  gathered  together  an  audience  of  thousands, 
who  watch  each  book  as  it  appears.  It  is  interesting 
to  see  what  he  has  produced. 

Mr.  Phillips'  novel  just  preceding  the  present  work  is 

OLD  WIVES  FOB  NEW 

Many,  many  critics  have  called  this  novel  immoral  and 
gross.  It  is  not  so.  It  tells  the  naked  truth — not  bru 
tally,  but  frankly.  It  is  not  romance.  It  is  real  life. 
It  deals  with  a  wife  who  cannot  keep  pace  with  her  hus 
band,  and  who  becomes  slothful  and  unclean  and  low- 
minded  because  she  does  not  realize  that  to  live  and  move 
forward  she  must  keep  herself  physically  and  mentally 
clean  and  fresh.  It  is  the  truth.  It  hits  many  a  woman 
to-day  hard.  Women  do  not  like  this  truth.  It  bites  too 
deep — and  so  they  called  it  disgusting  and  immoral.  And 
yet  more  than  200,000  people  have  read  it.  Of  this  novel 
it  is  said :  "  If  the  husband  reads  it  he  gives  it  to  his 
wife.  If  the  wife  reads  it  first,  she  is  very  likely  to  hide 
it  from  her  husband."  A  woman  said  of  it :  "  While  I 
was  reading  it,  I  stopped  one  night  just  after  the  train 
wreck.  It  was  so  vivid  that  as  I  took  up  my  morning 
paper,  the  next  day,  I  glanced  at  the  head-lines  for  news 
of  Murdochs  condition,  and  to  find  whether  the  scandal 
had  come  out."  "  Old  Wives  for  New "  is  a  picture  of 


OTHER   BOOKS   BY  MR.  PHILLIPS 

married  life — when  the  blinds  are  drawn  and  the  servants 
out  of  the  way,  and  the  husband  and  wife  become  their 
real  selves.  The  St.  Paul  Pioneer  Press  says :  "  It  con 
tains  things  about  women  that  have  never  seen  the  light 
of  day  before."  It  might  have  added:  and  things  about 
men  also.  The  book  teems  with  good  characters,  each 
with  a  haunting  resemblance  to  ourselves.  There  are 
women  of  respectability  and  women  of  the  other  world, 
wise  men  and  fools,  people  that  are  more  good  than 
bad,  people  that  are  more  bad  than  good,  but  nobody 
that  is  unhuman  enough  to  be  either  all  good  or  all  bad. 
The  keynote  is  that  of  a  good  story  which  searches 
for  the  truth. 

Another  of  the  remarkable  novels  is 

THE  SECOND  GENEDATION 

It  has  been  called  a  problem  novel.  But  it  is  so  only 
in  the  sense  that  every  story  that  lives  and  breathes  and 
is  clothed  in  flesh  and  blood  presents  a  problem.  You 
will  read  this  book  without  laying  it  down,  if  you  can. 
And  afterward  you  will  think  about  it  for  many  a  day. 
You  will  laugh ;  you  will  come  very  near  to  crying,  if  you 
don't  quite  cry.  You  will  love  old  Hiram  Ranger  and 
Ellen,  his  wife.  You  will  envy  Dory  Hargrave,  his  fasci 
nating  Adelaide.  You  will  laugh  over  the  soulful  Janet, 
and  will  sympathize  with  Arthur  Ranger.  And  as  for 
Madelene — well,  you  will  certainly  find  her  thrilling !  And 
the  adventures  of  all  these  people  will  keep  you  intensely 
interested.  Doctor  Schulze  must  not  go  without  a 


OTHER   BOOKS   BY  MR.   PHILLIPS 

mention.  He  is  as  amusing  here  as  when  he  appears 
again  in  "  Old  Wives  for  New,"  and  his  advice  on  medi 
cine  and  other  things  may  save  you  some  bad  health  and 
a  deal  of  money.  As  its  title  suggests,  the  story  is  a 
picture  of  our  American  life  that  may  be  found  in  any 
city  or  any  town  the  country  over — the  story  of  the 
strong,  hard-working  father,  who  carved  his  way  through 
life;  and  then  the  story  of  the  next  generation — the  son 
and  daughter  who  had  apparently  no  fight  to  make. 
You  will  say  this  has  been  done.  It  has,  but  never  in 
the  Balzacian  way  that  David  Phillips  has  done  it  here. 

The  third  novel  is 

LIGHT-FINGEBED  GENTBY 

Here  is  another  novel  of  present-day  life,  and  at 
present  as  true,  as  interesting,  from  the  romantic  point 
of  view,  as  either  of  the  other  two.  When  it  was  appear 
ing  serially,  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  America  became 
so  excitedly  interested  that  he  asked,  and  as  a  special 
favor  got,  an  advance  set  of  the  proofs  of  the  whole  story. 
He  couldn't  wait  to  find  out  what  was  going  to  happen 
about  Neva  Carlin  and  her  divorced  husband,  Horace 
Armstrong;  about  the  handsome,  rakish  great  artist, 
Boris;  about  sensible  Narcisse,  the  architect,  and  her  nice 
weak  brother ;  and  the  pert,  pretty  heiress,  Amy  Fosdick. 
As  in  Mr.  Phillips'  other  novels,  here  we  have  again 
those  startling,  intimate  views  of  men  and  women.  Much 
more  interesting,  much  more  amusing  is  this  sort  of  thing 
than  the  slush  you  so  often  take  into  your  system  with  a 


OTHER   BOOKS   BY  MR.   PHILLIPS 

box  of  chocolates,  to  the  detriment  of  your  brain  as  well 
as  of  your  stomach.  It  may  be  said  right  here  that 
if  you  are  weak  or  without  ambition,  or  if  you  have  no 
desire  to  be  a  clean,  clean-cut,  up-to-date,  attractive 
human  being,  "  in  the  know,"  you  had  better  not  read 
Mr.  Phillips'  novels.  His  pictures  of  people  are  too 
true  to  make  people  of  the  running-to-seed  sort  com 
fortable.  The  story  gives  again  a  true,  unvarnished 
picture  of  the  situation  as  it  has  and  does  exist  among 
the  great  and  unprincipled  financiers  of  this  country.  It 
tells  in  straightforward,  direct  language  of  the  sacrifice 
of  friendships  and  family  ties  for  the  advancement  of 
moneyed  interest  and  the  pursuit  of  power,  while  all  through 
the  story  runs  the  influence  of  a  woman  towards  human 
and  sane  living  and  thinking.  It  is  worth  emphasizing 
again  that  all  this  is  told  as  the  realities  are — not  as  they 
might  be  seen  through  romantic  eyes — not  as  they  should 
be  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  old-style  novels — not  in 
any  of  a  thousand  ways :  but  as  they  are  now,  to-day,  here 
in  this  country. 

A  few  weeks  ago  Mr.  Phillips  published  a  play  called 

THE  WOBTH  OF  A  WOMAN 

This  little  volume  illustrates  the  possibility  of  making 
an  actual  acting  play  that  is  also  interesting  to  read. 
It  is  a  remarkable  love  story — very  "  daring,"  as  the 
critics  say  when  they  are  afraid  to  say  "literally  true." 
If  you  read  this  play,  you  will  go  about  posing  its  central 
idea — the  dilemma  of  Diana  and  her  lover — to  all  your 


OTHER   BOOKS   BY  MR.  PHILLIPS 

friends,  and  arguing  over  whether  Diana  or  Julian  was 
right,  or  both,  or  neither. 


Mr.  Phillips  does  not  follow  the  usual  fashion  n 
writing  novels.  He  has  a  fashion  of  his  own.  His  readers 
are  now  numbered  by  the  scores  of  thousands.  In  at 
least  one  of  our  cities,  at  the  public  library  where  they 
take  ten  copies  of  each  of  Mr.  Phillips1  new  books,  there 
is  usually  a  waiting-list  jive  to  seven  months  long  for  a 
chance  at  it,  which  shows  one  of  two  things,  or  perhaps 
both:  to  how  much  trouble  some  people  will  go  to  save 
the  trifling  expenditure  of  the  price  of  a  book,  or  how 
extremely  popular  Mr.  Phillips  is — so  popular  that  he  has 
a  multitude  of  eager  readers  among  those  who  cannot 
afford  to  buy  books. 

It  is  no  small  triumph  to  win  all  kinds  of  readers,  as 
Mr.  Phillips  has.  The  reason  he  has  achieved  it  is  be 
cause  he  writes  about  life  as  we  live  it  ourselves,  in  our 
hearts  and  in  our  homes  and  in  our  dealings  with  each 
other — the  familiar  yet  startling  and  always  fascinating 
truth  about  life. 

It  has  passed  into  a  proverb  that  he  who  induces  you 
to  read  a  book  worth  while  does  you  a  great  favor.  We 
venture  to  think  we  are  doing  even  more:  we  are  trying 
to  induce  you  to  read  an  author  worth  while. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


QLJMl;   2000 


-n  | 


3 


ORI 

LDi 


form  L9-r 


3  1158013045355 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A  A      000254460    9 


